Green Options

The objective is to use entertainment content as a vehicle for educating mainstream audiences on topics such as HIV/AIDS and education in the hopes of influencing public views and behaviors.
One of these initiatives, called Get Schooled, is a partnership with Viacom that will weave education-themed story lines into existing shows or create new shows centered on education.

Editor’s Note: This post is a guest contribution by Frank Sesno, Emmy-award winning journalist and former CNN Washington Bureau Chief. ”Planet Forward” is an innovative, viewer-driven program driven by the power of ideas, as citizens make their case for what they think about the nation’s energy future. The show debuts on the web first and then moves to television, in a primetime PBS special on April [...]

Most of us are already familiar with the fun and educational programming provided by PBS. Many of us grew up with Sesame Street and The Reading Rainbow right? Well, I am pleased as punch when I find my kids engrossed in PBS programming because I know they are likely learning while viewing.

Well now PBS is participating in an entertaining, educational, and free Earth Day campaign! This is even better news for an eco conscious parent.

The online content and programming are ADORABLE – and all free – and help instill a love of the environment and eco-conscious values in children and their families.  Joining in the campaign is a great way for kids and families to start a dialogue about the importance of preserving the earth, while learning and having fun.

If your child watches more than two hours of television a day, his or her risk for asthma is doubled, according to a study published in the journal Thorax.

The UK study monitored over 3,000 children from birth until nearly twelve years old.  Beginning at the age of 3 and a half, researchers questioned parents annually on television viewing habits and symptoms of wheezing. 

Those children who watched more than two hours of television a day were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with asthma at age 12 than those children who watched less, prompting the researchers to suggest that “breathing patterns associated with sedentary behavior could lead to developmental changes in the lungs and wheezing illnesses in children“.

*Sigh.* Sometimes I hear news that just makes me want to cry.

Today is one of those days. And the FDA, for once, has nothing to do with it.

Nielsen Company released a report this week that showed that American TV viewing is at an all-time high.

We are a nation of vidiots.

Yep, in the fourth quarter of last year, personal TV use was at 151 hours per month, up from 145 hours for each of the last three months in the previous year. That would be about 4 ½ hours per day per person.

American households watch, on average, 8 hours, 18 minutes of TV per day.  What the?! Oh my, why are Junior’s grades so awful? Why is he “heavy set”?

The negative effects on children of watching too much television are well known, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended children not watch more than two hours a day.

New research from the University of Minnesota has found that teens who watch more than five hours of TV a day are more likely to become fast food junkies when they grow up.

The study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity followed 1,366 high school students and 564 middle school students. Data was collected on the number of hours spent watching TV every day, which was then compared to their dietary habits five years later.  According to Natural News:

The researchers found that high school students who watched over 5 hours of TV each day consumed less fruits, vegetables, whole grains and calcium-rich foods as young adults, and instead had a higher intake of fast food, fried foods, snack foods, sugary drinks as well as foods with trans fats.

Today was the day that our televisions were supposed to make the big switch from analog to digital broadcasting. Actually, some cities are still going forward with the change to “avoid the headache” waiting will cause.

I gotta tell you, I haven’t sweated the digital switch at all.  Honestly, I forgot it was coming up! I’ve decided to completely avoid worrying about digital cable dishes or antennae, vouchers and the like.

A 3-year study focusing on 35,000 children, parents and professionals, claims British children are less happy than those in almost any other developed country.

The aggressive pursuit of individual success by adults today is the greatest threat to our children….There is unease about the unprecedented speed with which children’s lives are changing; the commercial pressures they face; the violence they are exposed to; the rising stresses of school; the increased emotional distress they feel.

A 16 foot high sculpture of an iceberg featuring a stranded polar bear and its cub was launched on the River Thames in London today to mark the launch of a new natural history TV channel.

A team of 15 artists spent two months constructing the 20′ x 20′, three thousand pound, 100% recyclable structure which was launched in Greenwich, South East London at 6:30 this morning. The sculpture traveled 7.5 miles up the Thames before stopping beside Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament for a photo op.

>>Watch video of the polar bears on the Thames

The sculpture was specially commissioned to mark the launch of the new Natural History Television channel Eden, which starts today and features programming including Planet Earth and Attenborough Explores Our Fragile World.

Plasma TVs and LCD TVs account for 10-percent of the power needed to power Southern California. The Golden State hopes to ban inefficient televisions, greatly reducing usage during peak viewing times.

Apparently, a group of TV zombies have taken over the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Why? Because all those supposedly “green” electronics being exhibited are actually heading to the dumpster after they’ve died.