Green Options

Just when it seemed solar and wind power–with a hand from good old conservation–might be gaining ground on Big Coal, the West Virginia Coal Association comes up with a ringtone to further promote coal.

Ouch!

With lyrics like…

West Virginia coal gonna take you on a ride,
Gonna take you to the city to the shore and countryside,
Gonna let you work your magic and your power and your pride,
West Virginia coal, you’re on your way!
From the coal found deep in the dark today, we come up with the light for America! America!

…those of us who care for clean air and water (etc.) might as well give up our cause!

Unless…unless we can come up with a ringtone to combat this viral mega (read: mini) hit.

Sarcasm aside, I put together a list of ten (and certainly there are many more) environmentally-themed ringtones–let’s call ‘em earthtones–to fight Big Coal’s itty bitty ditty. The beauty of these earthtones is that you are not forced to buy the section of the song that the ringtone provider chooses for you. mSpot.com allows you to pick whatever coal-hating or earth-loving part you’d like to cut (up to 30 seconds) to say “In your face West Virginia Coal Association!” or “In your face asthma-related deaths!” or “In your face mercury-filled fish!”…

1. Mother Earth by Neil Young
Ringtone I’d cut:
Oh, freedom land
Can you let this go
Down to the streets
where the numbers grow
Respect Mother Earth
and her giving ways
Or trade away
our children’s days
Or trade away
our children’s days.

2. Mercy Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye
Ringtone I’d cut:
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north and south and east

3. 3 R’s by Jack Johnson
Ringtone I’d cut:
We’ve got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

4. Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell
Hey farmer, farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But LEAVE me the birds and the bees
Please!
or
They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
Then they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ‘em
Don’t it always seem to go,
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Over the past 2 weeks a number of organizations including National Geographic, Conservation International, and several famous rock bands helped facilitate the “Great Turtle Race”: a fun effort to scientifically track the migration of 11 endangered leatherback sea turtles on their journey from Canada to the Caribbean. In addition to building awareness of the need for turtle conservation, one of the turtles provided the world with the 1st complete set of migration data ever recorded for a sea turtle.

Seen above, the sea turtle known as Wawa Bear traveled 4471 miles and had her entire route tracked successfully. At 1315 pounds, it should not be hard to imagine where the name “bear” comes from. Wawa Bear is, in fact, the largest sea turtle ever captured in Nova Scotian waters.