Green Options

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After finding myself seeking out organic musical instruments for my child, I had one of those open-palm-to-the-forehead-moments and realized the old stand-by of spoons on pots, dry beans in Tupperware and whisks around a metal bowl were classics for a reason. Simple. Easy. And I don’t have to buy anything.

BUT, for the really adventurous out there - I did find this wonderfully endearing YouTube clip of a man (the language barrier won’t matter) delighting in showing the world how he fashions apples, carrots and even asparagus into musical instruments. It is music so good you can eat it! (Sorry … couldn’t resist).

It is a little weird - but what a fantastic way to take the fear out of vegetables. I don’t know that I can pull off this trick with my paring knife, but I might give it a try. If nothing else, this will provide at least 10 minutes worth of hysterical laughter from my son. 

Enjoy the clip after the jump. 

While we’re on the subject: good Stumbleupon friend HarleyJane18 sent this to me last week. Houston Chronicle cartoonist Nick Anderson does some great 3D animation videos with song parodies… this one is based on Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” (specifically the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of it).

See also:

Ecoscraps: Shades of Green — The Four Horsemen

sustainablog: Shades of Green and The Green House: by Brad Gilchrist and Peter Menice (interview)

Musicians keep cranking out the eco-songs… and that’s a great way to bring the green message to a broader audience. Wirehead’s “Losing Ground” is a call to action that’s a little bit 80s pop-rock (they list Toto as an influence), a little bit jazz-rock fusion (think Steely Dan), and a whole lot of of environmental awareness. Thanks to Wirehead drummer Clive Edwards for sharing this…

I am a harsh critic of children’s music. I don’t like most of the crap that is out there, and I don’t understand why children should be subjected to poor musical compositions just because they are children.  Based on my strong musical opinions, it was with hesitancy that I listened to Hayes Greenfield’s Music for a Green Planet. I was pleasantly surprised by the jazzy melodies and amused by the lyrics of this cd, although I have to admit, I am a sucker for the upright bass.

Music for a Green Planet takes many traditional children’s songs, as well as other popular classics, and changes the lyrics to reflect a green message. I have probably listened to this cd a dozen times in one day, as my children absolutely adore it, and I do too.  The first track is a version of  “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain” only she’s driving a hybrid and using biodiesel.

We’ll be driving biodiesel when she comes
We’ll be getting cleaner mileage when she comes
We’ll be a part of the solution
Cause we’re making less pollution
We’ll be driving biodiesel when she comes

In the mood for some songs to swoon to this spring?

News is in that the recent Tune In. Turn On. Drop Off! event we mentioned earlier this week was hot! She and Him (composed of actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) performed for the participants at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills.

While green launch parties are great fun, my biomimicry-intrigued self is drawn to The Independent nature article out now called Eco-pop: Songs in the key of life ~ “A new breed of eco-pop artists is making musical ’soundscapes’ that get closer to nature than ever before.” They discuss how scientists are increasingly reaching out to musicians to engage the public in their work.

Music (no matter what the genre) is a great catalyst for innovation, motivation, even social change and environmental consciousness. What are some tunes that are moving you in a good direction?I’d like to share some recent playlists I’ve found to give you a burst of spring fevor:

1. Eco-fashionistas @ Natural High Lifestyle seem to know what to play.
2. Jack Johnson is a chill, soothing listen.

As has been reported on the Green Options network in the past, enviros and music festivals go together like peanut butter and jelly. The synergy between the two may be no more evident than on July 4th weekend 2008, when the town of Rothbury, Michigan will play host to a “party with a purpose.” The four-day ROTHBURY music and camping festival is being promoted as a “cultural assembly; one where music fans, artists and progressive thinkers gather to celebrate much more than music.” It is Rothbury’s goal to harness the unique energy of the live music community into a durable social movement toward an important cause: Climate Change and Clean Energy Alternatives.

Promoters say that ROTHBURY is committed to producing a near zero-waste concert. The first to tackle a green program of this magnitude at an around-the-clock (camping) concert in the USA.

The Blue Man Group has a great video warning about climate change. It is nice to have artistic expression on this topic.

I realize that on April 1st, it’s a bit risky to post about fabric made from recycled cassette tapes. Are you going to believe me? It’s true, though! Sonic Fabric, the creation of designer Alyce Santoro, is woven from recycled cassette tape and cotton. It’s recorded with a sound collage before weaving, and you can actually listen to sounds from the fabric by running a tape head over it.

No, really. I’m serious.

Granted, Santoro describes the sound as “kind of like scratching a record backwards or radio static” because you’re listening to many strands of tape at one time. So a Sonic Fabric dress isn’t exactly a replacement for the IPod.

Suffolk, UK-based musician Mickey Flynn stays busy playing clubs and pubs around England. In between gigs, though, he’s been working on an environmentally-themed song, “Try and Try Again.” While he’s still tweaking the song, he shared this live version with us (it was recorded earlier this month). Enjoy!

While reading one of my favorite parenting blogs Z Recommends, I noticed an advertisement for Swaptree. Swaptree provides an online service where you can trade books, music, dvds, and video games for free with other users. This is a great idea for children’s books, especially as children outgrow pictures books and are ready for chapter books.

Swaptree was started because the founders noticed:

• their mothers were frequently trading books with their network of friends
• their nephews played a new $55 dollar video game for a week or so, and then never again
• their shelves (and everyone else’s shelves that they knew) were filled with hundreds of CDs and DVDs that weren’t going to see the inside of a CD or DVD player anytime soon
• the price of college textbooks had gotten out of hand

Everybody sing along, now: “Save the planet… Save the Planet…”

Thanks to co-creator Michael Droste for passing this along…