Green Options » Festival

Celebrating Women and Wildlife in Nepal

Rhishja Larson — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:38:45 +0000

Nepal’s Chitwan Buffer Zone hosted more than 800 people for the “Women on Conservation” event to mark the occasion of Teej - a festival of Nepalese women.

The “Women on Conservation” event was kicked off by Surdevi Community Forest User Group President lighting the ceremonial candle.

This lively theatrical competition was held at the Surdevi Community Forest User Group Office on August 23, 2009 and presented by Partnership for Rhino Conservation and Friendship Chitwan. A total of seven groups from the Chitwan Buffer Zone and surrounding villages participated in the program with songs, poems, and stories about wildlife conservation.

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The Solar Bus: Making Changes On The Move

Christopher DeMorro — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:04:16 +0000

For all of us, “Going Green” means something different. Whether it is just changing the light bulbs in your house or going completely off the grid, every little bit helps. But for some people, changing the world is a full time job, and a full time job requires a company car.

Or a bus. Enter the Solar Bus.

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Good Will Upcycles

Kelly Rand — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:53:19 +0000

A couple of weeks ago we had the fortune of having the Green Festival in our Nations Capitol. A large green expo, featuring ways to green every aspect of your life, included big name speakers in the environmental movement.

My favorite part of the weekend? Tucked into a corner was Good Will Industries and D.C.’s own Goodwill Fashionista. For those of you who arn’t familiar with the Fasionista, she writes about how you can find amazing fashion right at your local Good Will shop. Finding gently used clothing and reusing is a concept that is nothing new to readers of this here blog.

What was even more great about the D.C. Fashionista being there, was she was teaching everyone how to make a market tote out of a t-shirt. Genius I say! T-shirts are definitely something Good Will always has in spades.

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Diwali - A Holiday For Children in India And All Over The World

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:17:48 +0000

Diwali, India’s Festival Of Light, is the largest and most important holiday for the global Indian community. It is a time when the entire family gets together to participate in wellness traditions and festivities that hark back to the days of ancient India. Diwali is especially wonderful for kids.

Diwali celebrates light as a source of inner strength. A row of glittering clay lamps is lit up on the darkest night of the month to awaken the power of our inner light. Kids are taught this concept from a very young age. It is also a time when they wear traditional clothing and participate in festivity for a stretch of five days. A national holiday in India, schools are closed and people travel to their native towns for family reunions. The day after Diwali marks the first day of the Indian business year.

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St. Louis Green Homes Renewable Energy Festival This Weekend

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:40:26 +0000

For a number of years, St. Louis’ Earthways Center has held a celebration of energy efficiency and renewable energy on the last weekend of September. Vendors showed their wares, non-profit groups passed out information, and the local electric company sold CFLs for a really low price. This year, that event has morphed into the Green Homes Renewable Energy Festival, which is co-sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. In addition to the usual displays and tours of the Center itself (a Victorian-era home in St. Louis’ Midtown which has been rehabbed into a green showpiece), visitors to this free event can enjoy:

Workshops and Presentations: Throughout the day on Saturday, Sept. 27, the festival will offer a range of workshops and presentations next door at Cardinal Ritter High School. According to the Festival’s website, “Workshops will cover a range of topics like solar and wind energy, home and vehicle efficiency, urban farming, composting, recycling, and more. Participants can attend multiple workshops for only $5.”

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GreenWare Cups

John Simonetta — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:31:46 +0000

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

GreenWare cups resemble clear plastic cups but are made from a resin derived from corn called Natureworks® PLA (polylactic acid) resin. If you are a business, festival, music event, stadium or other venue selling drinks in cups, please consider these as a alternative to petroleum based plastic cups.

These cups are 100% compostable and environmentally sustainable as PLA resin is naturally recycled in the Earth.

Other environmental benefits include:
~ 20% - 50% fewer fossil resources used than with petroleum based resins.
~ No ground water contamination because the cups break down into natural lactic acid and metabolites which are recycled into the ground.

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Attend an Earth Day Event in the Bay Area!

The Dave Room — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:09:01 +0000

There are a plethora of Earth Day events happening in the Bay Area over the next two weekends. Check out this comprehensive listing for a celebration near you!

Marine Science Institute Earth Day Celebration: Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Marine Science Institute invites one and all to come celebrate the Earth, San Francisco Bay and all things marine science. The day is jam packed with activities for the entire family, including four 2-hour discovery voyages on San Francisco Bay aboard our 90 ft. research vessel the Robert G. Brownlee, a lunch-time performance by the Banana Slug String Band, shark feedings, interpretive tables, fish and shark touch tanks, juggling and vaudeville presentation, ocean crafts, canoe demonstrations, environmental info faire, plankton shows, traditional Pacific Islander dancing, and much, much more.
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
For more information visit our website at www.sfbaymsi.org, or contact Aaron Tinker at (650) 364-2760 x16 or by email aaron@sfbaymsi.org. Entrance is FREE, but there is a cost for the boat trips. Pre-registration via website for the Discovery Voyages is strongly recommended.

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Mr. Biodiesel Meets Gas 2.0 At Sundance Film Festival

Clayton B. Cornell — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:07:51 +0000

Gas 2.0 writer, Clayton B. Cornell, meets Mr. Biodiesel himself, J osh Tickell, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Tickell is author of several books on biodiesel, including From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank and Biodiesel America.

Tickell was at Sundance screening his new film on biodiesel, Fields of Fuel.

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

The banner welcomes contestants and audience members, and prominently features Nepal’s flagship animal: The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

In addition to the Chitwan Buffer Zone groups and villages, local individuals and community-based organizations were encouraged to participate in the “Women on Conservation” festivities.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

Local community leaders were in attendance, and appealed to audience members to join them in supporting conservation issues. President of Friendship Chitwan, Koshraj Dallakoti chaired the event. The jury committee was chaired by Suman Bhattarai, Team Leader of Partnership for Rhino Conservation.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

In the past, Teej included traditions such as arranged marriages for girls as young as five years old. But in these modern times, women of Chitwan celebrate Teej by singing conservation songs to mark the importance of protecting wildlife in their local areas.

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

Suman Bhattarai, Team Leader of Partnership for Rhino Conservation, believes that children are the future of natural resource conservation and management. Sustainable conservation and management of wildlife can be expected only if this new generation embraces conservation.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

“Women on Conservation” turned out to be an international event: People from outside Nepal arrived to enjoy the performances and support Chitwan Buffer Zone conservation efforts.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Second place went to Parewashwori Community Forest User Group, and third to Surdevi Youth Club.

In all, there were seven participant groups:

Hands for Conservation
Surdevi Youth Club
Parewashwori Community Forest User Group
Jaya Manakamana Youth Club
Parewashwori Dugdha Utpadak
Ban Devi Community Forest User Group
Pashu Pati Kailashpuri Community Forest User Group

Event organizer Suman Bhattarai was pleased with the contestant participation, audience commitment, and overall turnout for the event. He declared “Women on Conservation” a successful educational outreach endeavor.

Here’s to Women on Conservation!

All images courtesy of Suman Bhattarai, PARC/Nepal.

2008 Sundance Film Festival Gets Underway

Clayton B. Cornell — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:00:31 +0000

I’m here in a bitterly cold Park City, Utah, for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Current temperature outside is 5, and the night before last registered at a polar -10 degrees F.

But hey, I’m at Sundance.

For the next ten days I’ll be on the lookout for films and panels pertaining to biofuels or the planet. It looks like Josh Tickell, the well-known author of From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank (who’s primarily responsible for the biodiesel homebrew movement in the last decade) has a film this year. It’s called Fields of Fuel.

I’ll also be collaborating with a colleague here to finish a short documentary we filmed last year called Veggie Truck. If it isn’t totally embarrassing (I haven’t watched the footage in almost a year) I’ll be posting it here.

Until then, I’ll be watching movies and fighting off frostbite.

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

The banner welcomes contestants and audience members, and prominently features Nepal’s flagship animal: The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

In addition to the Chitwan Buffer Zone groups and villages, local individuals and community-based organizations were encouraged to participate in the “Women on Conservation” festivities.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

“Women on Conservation” turned out to be an international event: People from outside Nepal arrived to enjoy the performances and support Chitwan Buffer Zone conservation efforts.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Second place went to Parewashwori Community Forest User Group, and third to Surdevi Youth Club.

In all, there were seven participant groups:

Hands for Conservation
Surdevi Youth Club
Parewashwori Community Forest User Group
Jaya Manakamana Youth Club
Parewashwori Dugdha Utpadak
Ban Devi Community Forest User Group
Pashu Pati Kailashpuri Community Forest User Group

Here’s to Women on Conservation!

All images courtesy of Suman Bhattarai, PARC/Nepal.

Green Musicians and Green(er) Music Festivals

Gavin Hudson — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:48:41 +0000

Continued from Greening Your Groove.

The environmental movement has been rolling along fast this year, and rocking to boot. A green rhythm is beating in the heart of today’s music scene and music lovers young and old have their fingers on its pulse.

This summer, the SOS Live Earth Concert brought together musicians to stages around the world for one glorious day of music and festivities. The message: take personal action to reduce our species’ impact on the environment, and encourage governments and business leaders to follow. These round-the-world concerts were not an isolated, one-time event. Many of the artists who performed, as well as others, are making a concerted effort to help the environment, and grow concern for the well-being of the planet.

Some environmentally in-tune musicians hold benefit concerts; some even tour by bicycle or biofueled bus. Most incorporate environmental messages into their lyrics. When you buy music from the following artists or go to their concerts, you’ll be supporting the work they do for the environment. Whether you’re looking for green concerts or music festivals, discovering new bands, wondering what issues musicians care about, or looking for music with a message about the Earth for your children, you’ll find it in the list and links below.

Green(er) Music Festivals

Tennesse’s Bonnaroo Music and Art Festival website says, "The future of our planet is a big deal for Bonnaroo - and it should be for you, too." ‘Rooers are encouraged to offset their travel to the concert and have the option to buy organic foods and natural products. The festival also uses biodiesel generators on some of its stages, and offers 2,000 recycling bins throughout the concert grounds. Read more here.

Seattle’s Bumbershoot is made green with biodiesel generators, clean energy from the Seattle City Light, no Styrofoam, an optional $2 donation to offset carbon, and a plethora of information about how to get to and from the event by bicycle or public transportation.

Chicago’s Lollapalooza: organic local foods, bio-fuel, recycling, bicycle resources, and compostables make lolla green. There’s even a section called "Green Street" where concertgoers can learn more agout how to take action to improve the environment.

San Francisco’s Power to the Peaceful showcases artists with environmentally progressive messages. It also recycles and encourages listeners from out of town to stay in the Serrano Hotel, a member of the California Green Lodging Program.

Austin’s South by Southwest festival is offsetting its carbon footprint, giving tips on getting to and from the festival sans car, and donating $5,000 to plant trees.

Vans Warped Tour has a set of "Warped Eco Initiatives" (WEI) that it hopes will help it to become more environmentally friendly and to encourage eco awareness. Biodiesel, green catering, and solar-powered sound systems top the list of green highlights at this seriously wicked music fest. Read more here.

Green Musicians by Genre

Alternative

Will Thom Yorke of Radiohead be the eraser of global warming? He’s certainly making the effort as a supporter of the Friends of the Earth’s Big Ask campaign to reduce climate change. Watch a video interview with this artist and read more here.

Blues

Bonnie Raitt has something to talk about: the environment. Clean energy, sustainable living, electric cars, and energy efficient buildings are also things she advocates talking about. She’s even listed by the Department of Energy as a large purchaser of green energy, which she uses to offset her music tours.

Country

Willie Nelson may urge mamas not to let their babies be cowboys, but he’s quick to encourage them to be environmentalists. He’s on the road again, this time with his own line of biodiesel, Biowillie. He’s also actively involved in the Farm Aid concerts, which support producers of local, organic foods and humanely raised farm animals.

Folk

The Indigo Girls have more than just the power of two — they have a whole Green Team made up of their environmentally savvy fans who help the band to keep their concerts as environmentally friendly as possible.

Hot Buttered Rum is a green machine, or at least that’s what they call their biodiesel tour bus.

Hip-Hop

The Roots are carryin’ on the environmental message with their "Stop the Violence: Go Veg" campaign with PETA. The group also advocates composting. Watch this video and read more here.

Spearhead with Michael Franti have been bringing power to the peaceful for years now in the San Francisco Bay area. This year, they’ll be extending the green-themed concert internationally with a December 1 music festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Check it out on their website.

Pop

Justin Timberlake is bringing green back. He’s passionate about water issues, especially as the lack of drinking water throughout many African countries. Read more here.

Sheryl Crow hopes the power industry will be strong enough to soak up the sun with solar energy. She went on tour this year with concerts that educated her audience about the serious nature of climate change. Read more here.

Kylie Minogue has come into the environmental world as the face of the "H&M Loves Kylie" swimwear line, which is donating ten percent of its profits to WaterAid. Read more here.

Madonna once said that her ambition was to rule the world. Today, she’s helping to green it. A percentage of profits from the first million downloads of her hit inspirational song "Hey You" went to fighting climate change. Read more here and check out the video here.

Punk

Green Day came around a long time ago to the environmental movement. They put their green fingers to work with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to come up with this great website about how to become involved in saving the Earth. You can also watch a number of their environmentally conscious music videos and interviews here.

Rock

If the Barenaked Ladies had $1,000,000, they’d probably spend some of it furthering environmental issues. The group is on the board of World Wildlife Fund Canada and runs a pretty green concert tour. Read more here.

Dave Matthews has a crush on the environmental movement. From offsetting the carbon of the band’s tours to using green diapers at home, he’s making the world better every day.

Jimmy Buffett has found one particular harbour in the sea of environmental issues: manatees. He’s the co-founder of the Save the Manatee Club, which encourages people to adopt a manatee and boat responsibly.

Pearl Jam is rockin’ the green world, raising funds for environmental causes from preserving the Madagascar rainforest to funding renewable energy. Read more here and check out their website on climate activism.

With Sarah Harmer aglow about conservation, you just know things are getting better. This folk/rock musician co-founded the group Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL), which seeks to conserve the natural habitat Niagara Escarpment Rural Land. She’s even toured on foot to raise awareness for her conservation concerns.

Bon Jovi wants people to have a nice day and a green home. Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi jokes that he’s motivated to save the environment by guilt over the "huge hole in the ozone layer my haircuts created." He’s now the founding ambassador of the Habitat for Humanity Ambassadors Program. Read more here.

Jack Johnson is good people, and he cares about the environment. He tours by biodiesel, offsets his carbon, donates 1% for the planet, and co-founded the Kokua Hawaii Foundation to promote environmental education. Read more here.

Youth

Put On Your Green Shoes is a compilation by various artists.

The Banana Slug String Band strike a silly, fun chord with kids and also manage to bring serious and educational messages. They’re also a rocking group for adults to listen to. Albums include Singing in Our Garden and Dirt Made My Lunch.

Ella Jenkins has been on the green kids music scene for years. She has a "solution to pollution" and teaches kids how about the "environmental game." Check out her new CD, Come Dance By The Ocean.

References and Resources

For more environmentally happening musicians, check out the following websites:

Musical Partners | Rock the Earth, "Defending the planet one beat at a time"

Eco Music For Kids | Leonardodicaprio.org

15 Green Musicians and Bands | Grist

Links for Environmental Songs and Music | Planetary Exploration

How Green Is the Music? | Austin Chronicle

Celebrities Going Green | AOL

Photo Source:

Power to the Peaceful 1 | Flickr

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

The banner welcomes contestants and audience members, and prominently features Nepal’s flagship animal: The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

In addition to the Chitwan Buffer Zone groups and villages, local individuals and community-based organizations were encouraged to participate in the “Women on Conservation” festivities.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

“Women on Conservation” turned out to be an international event: People from outside Nepal arrived to enjoy the performances and support Chitwan Buffer Zone conservation efforts.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Second place went to Parewashwori Community Forest User Group, and third to Surdevi Youth Club.

In all, there were seven participant groups:

Hands for Conservation
Surdevi Youth Club
Parewashwori Community Forest User Group
Jaya Manakamana Youth Club
Parewashwori Dugdha Utpadak
Ban Devi Community Forest User Group
Pashu Pati Kailashpuri Community Forest User Group

Here’s to Women on Conservation!

All images courtesy of Suman Bhattarai, PARC/Nepal.

Carbon Harmony: Offsetting More Than 100% at Music Festivals

Sara Holt — Tue, 22 May 2007 12:49:40 +0000

This weekend at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Washington, you can hear the likes of Bjork, The Arcade Fire, Manu Chao and the Beastie Boys. And if you listen closely, you might also hear the sigh of atmospheric relief as Carbon Harmony neutralizes the effects of all carbon dioxide emmissions resulting from this year’s Sasquatch!

You may remember from my previous post that the United States produced at least 6,008.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2005 alone. With a number this outstanding, how can music fest lovers feel rest assured they won’t add to it when they make the trek out to see their favorite bands?

With Carbon Harmony, a festival can actually neutralize its carbon footprint and then some by calculating its carbon emmissions and then purchasing “a larger amount of carbon reduction credits” to actually lower the total amount of CO2 in the ozone layer. This allows for a festival to not just prevent further global warming, but to actually contribute to the growing movement in global cooling.

“Carbon neutral is a start,” says founder John Humphrey. “That gets you to zero. But why not go a step beyond and reduce the overall amount of CO2 in the atmosphere?”

Founded by Sustainable Energy Partners, Carbon Harmony begins by purchasing 10% more carbon reduction credits than you need to neutralize your carbon footprint. With the Carbon Harmony mindset of “Why stop at neutral?” you can choose to go above and beyond with as many carbon credits as you want.

To see how you can be a part of a more carbon neutral music experience, visit http://carbonharmony.com

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

The banner welcomes contestants and audience members, and prominently features Nepal’s flagship animal: The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

In addition to the Chitwan Buffer Zone groups and villages, local individuals and community-based organizations were encouraged to participate in the “Women on Conservation” festivities.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

“Women on Conservation” turned out to be an international event: People from outside Nepal arrived to enjoy the performances and support Chitwan Buffer Zone conservation efforts.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Second place went to Parewashwori Community Forest User Group, and third to Surdevi Youth Club.

In all, there were seven participant groups:

Hands for Conservation
Surdevi Youth Club
Parewashwori Community Forest User Group
Jaya Manakamana Youth Club
Parewashwori Dugdha Utpadak
Ban Devi Community Forest User Group
Pashu Pati Kailashpuri Community Forest User Group

Here’s to Women on Conservation!

All images courtesy of Suman Bhattarai, PARC/Nepal.

Green Options » Festival

Celebrating Women and Wildlife in Nepal

Nepal’s Chitwan Buffer Zone hosted more than 800 people for the “Women on Conservation” event to mark the occasion of Teej - a festival of Nepalese women.

The “Women on Conservation” event was kicked off by Surdevi Community Forest User Group President lighting the ceremonial candle.

The Solar Bus: Making Changes On The Move

Good Will Upcycles

Diwali - A Holiday For Children in India And All Over The World

St. Louis Green Homes Renewable Energy Festival This Weekend

GreenWare Cups

Attend an Earth Day Event in the Bay Area!

Mr. Biodiesel Meets Gas 2.0 At Sundance Film Festival

Gas 2.0 writer, Clayton B. Cornell, meets Mr. Biodiesel himself, Josh Tickell, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Tickell is author of several books on biodiesel, including From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank and Biodiesel America.

Tickell was at Sundance screening his new film on biodiesel, Fields of Fuel.

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

2008 Sundance Film Festival Gets Underway

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Green Musicians and Green(er) Music Festivals

Green(er) Music Festivals

Green Musicians by Genre

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Carbon Harmony: Offsetting More Than 100% at Music Festivals

Translation: “Open Women Festival Song Competition: Women on Conservation - Welcome”

A teacher from the local community presents his conservation-related poem.

Lively performances were enhanced by festive attire.

For Teej, red is considered auspicious and fabric stores stock up well in advance!

Local children showed off their theatrical talents for an audience of over 800 people.

A group of Korean ladies joined the festivities on stage.

First place winner Jaya Manakama Youth Club!

Gas 2.0 writer, Clayton B. Cornell, meets Mr. Biodiesel himself, J osh Tickell, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Tickell is author of several books on biodiesel, including From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank and Biodiesel America.