Eco News

First lady Michelle Obama welcomed fifth-graders back to the White House garden Tuesday to pick the lettuce and peas they helped plant in the spring. The produce was from an ongoing project with Bancroft Elementary School. Many of the students helped the first lady plant the vegetable garden in April. Mrs. Obama had her hands in the dirt and helped the kids in cutting several varieties of lettuce. She also flaunted her enjoyment in eating raw sweet peas.

“It tastes great doesn’t it when the vegetables are fresh?” she asked. “We all have to have vegetables every single day, every day.”

Together the group harvested 73-pounds of lettuce and 12-pounds of peas from the 1,100-square-foot, L-shaped plot on the South Lawn. Later, the fifth-graders made salad using the newly picked lettuce and decorated cupcakes baked with honey instead of sugar.

Sounds like a great day at the White House to me!

Modern Eco Homes is proud to announce that we just joined the CarbonFree program by Carbonfund.org in order to offset all of our carbon emissions.

What are carbon offsets? Carbon offsets enable anyone to reduce their climate footprint by supporting projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions to balance out one’s own carbon footprint. We are all responsible for carbon dioxide emissions through the use of energy such as driving, the heating and cooling of our homes, and watching TV. Carbon offsetting is the act of reducing an equal amount of carbon somewhere else to counterbalance the carbon emissions from our energy-using activities.

Carbonfund.org is leading the fight against climate change, making it easy and affordable for any individual, business, or organization to eliminate their climate impact and hasten the transformation to a clean energy and technology future. Carbonfund.org achieves its goals by supporting renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects globally that reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the threat of climate change. Click here to learn more about Carbonfund.org.

MEH is committed in support of carbon-offset projects. Each activity plays an important role in the fight against global warming. Here’s to a cleaner future.

It was a great week in the green world. Here’s some juicy gossip and news as it pertains to the environment, climate change, natural health and more. So grab that organic coffee and get to reading!

• University of Oregon is the latest to witness the change where workout sweat is being converted into useful watts. Read all about it over at Ecofriend.

• May is national bike month, so in honor of the hundreds of thousands of individuals treking around to show their commitment to a carbon-free lifestyle, Ecofabulous has highlighted some cool eco bike gear. Head on over HERE.

• Big change is needed fast and collaboration may be the answer according to Scott Badenoch, Co-founder and CEO of CreativeCitizen.com, the wiki for green living. Head on over to TheGreenGirls to watch a video and get the scoop.

• If you live in Canada, now is a great time to show your support for local pig farmers. Find out why at Ecollo.

• Many ingredients in perfumes, shampoos, fabric softeners, etc. are toxic and can cause adverse reactions. Find out what ingredients you should avoid at Care2.

• Latest people freaking out about the steadily worsening news on climate change? Doctors, soldiers, diplomats, lawyers and insurance bankers. Read full story at WorldChanging.

• New website dedicated to natural animal care via Dr. Mercola and Dr. Becker. Elephant Journal has the scoop for all of us pet owners.

• In a landmark vote, the House Committee approves climate bill. Read the full story over at Grist.

• House passes a $6.4 billion modernization plan to green our public schools. TheGoodHuman has all the details.

• Max Gladwell successfully pulled off a social media experiment. Please check this out if you haven’t already. And if you’re a blogger or publisher of any size who would like to be included on the distribution list for the next 10 Ways post in July, you can contact them HERE.  I’m certain it will be equally as thought-provoking.

I will be calling Monreal, Quebec home in a couple of months and I couldn’t be more excited.

Montreal spent 15 million Canadian dollars (about $13 million) to develop and start a bike sharing program, although it is budgeted to ultimately become financially self-sufficient. Bixi is nothing if not ambitious.

Bixi

Here is a brief idea of how it works: A user takes a bike from one of the stations, pays at an automated pay station, and drops the bike off at any pay station in the network. The bike becomes another mode of urban transport unto itself, a practical, economical, ecological and healthy alternative to energy-guzzling vehicles.

Way to go Montreal, congrats! To read the full story, click HERE.

Recently, a House panel approved the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, a bill that would entitle $6.4 billion in 2010 for school construction projects that meet certain environmental standards. Projects that could qualify include maximizing green space, finding ways to control room temperature with windows and building materials, maximizing daylight, using organic compound cleaning products and tapping into renewable energy sources like solar power. The bill would provide additional funding for such projects until 2015, by which time all publicly-funded school construction projects would have to meet environmental standards.

Ten states across the country already require new school construction to use renewable energy sources, but this bill would ensure that all students have access to healthy, eco-friendly environments. Many of our schools are in poor shape and overdue for renovations. Outdated building materials contribute not only to wasted energy and inefficiency, but they also contribute to increasing health problems for students. Hazardous materials like asbestos are still only optional for districts to remove. New laws would revitalize school building codes, making them healthier learning places for students and teachers alike.

Students who grow up immersed in an environment built around sustainable living will accept these practices as habits and carry sustainable values with them in their lives beyond the classroom. Starting early is crucial to growing the cultural mindset necessary to preserve our planet for generations to come. Don’t you think?

California has two-dozen East Bay area locations in neighborhoods such as Vallejo, Hercules and Lafayette that all have on thing in common, “casual carpooling”. What is casual carpooling you ask? It’s the practice of forming improvised, informal carpools between drivers and passengers for the purpose of commuting.

Drivers in the East Bay pick up hundreds of random riders from designated spots so they can use the carpool lane reserved for cars carrying three or more people, (or two people in a two-seat car), and bypass the backup at the $4.00 toll booth and cross the bridge for free.

The most interesting thing about San Francisco’s casual carpooling is that it is totally unregulated and in no way is it affiliated with the local government or transit authorities. However, they are aware of it. According to the MTC, carpools account for 46% of morning traffic on the Bay Bridge equaling to an 18.4 million dollar loss in annual revenue.  Despite this loss, the MTC does regard this as positive.  They’re actually cool with it.Casual carpooling has grown recently because of the concern towards the environment, but it has been around for some time. The non-tolled Bay Bridge carpool lane was established in 1975 and the carpooling culture began to develop right after that.

Over the years, the carpool culture has even evolved its own unspoken rules: no cell phones, no food or drink, no smoking, and only the driver can initiate conversation. There’s no exchange of money involved. Drivers are encouraged to be considerate of passengers when listening to music, news or talk radio, as well as encouraged to drive extra cautiously. The private car becomes public transit and everyone, including Mother Nature, comes out ahead.

As far as anyone seems to know, (for East Bay casual carpooling), there have been no hapless incidents. A little caution and common sense seems to be key. Passengers can always decline a ride. For example, female passengers have been known to decline rides in two-seat pickup trucks. They simply let another passenger go first, and wait for a larger vehicle.

If such a transportation boom grew naturally in the Bay Area years ago, why aren’t we seeing them in more cities? Is it a social issue, or a city/state issue? If big cities would structure this, we could see enormous gains in social interactions, environmental changes and commuter incentives. My only concern is safety, but SF seems to have it under control. What do you think? Could this eventually become a national normality? Let me know what you think in our comment section.

In keeping with the spirit of Calypso Studios S.H.O.P. Totes (Start Helping Our Planet), the company is having its first Earth Day Event. Calypso Studios wants to promote this important day in our world by donating $10,000 worth of its S.H.O.P. Totes. Pretty cool, I must say.

Calypso Giveaway

Calypso Studios launched the S.H.O.P. Totes January 1, 2009.  The company collaborated with American artists, such as Lori Siebert, Emma Hand,  Robin Roderick, Tina Higgins, and Andrea Tachiera to provide beautiful art on the totes.  The totes are a fashionable way to Start Helping Our Planet by using reusable bags.  The spacious bags are 17” x 19” when opened and easily roll up into a 2” x 3” size.  Three bags are conveniently stored in an 8” x 6” wristlet carrying case.  The Totes were also chosen as one of the celebrity giveaway swag bags at the Academy Awards in February.  Celebrate Earth Day carrying the bag the celebrities use!

Their Earth Day mission is to encourage everyone to get in the habit of carrying reusable bags on every shopping excursion – whether to the grocery store, mall, or on vacation. They want to Start Helping Our Planet by discouraging the use of plastic and paper bags.

Plastic bags are harmful to the earth in several ways:

• Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide

• According to the EPA, over 380 billion bags are used in the USA every year, which is more than 1200 per resident and it takes about 12 million barrels of oil to make this many bags.
• Over 46,000 pieces of plastic are floating in our oceans worldwide
• Each reusable bag you use has the potential to eliminate an average of 1000 bags over its lifetime.

To participate in their Earth Day event register on their website HERE. The event begins 12:00 pm (est) April 1, 2009 and ends 12:00pm (est) Earth Day, April 22, 2009.  A drawing will also be held on April 22nd to select the winners.  These lucky individuals will each receive an Acts of Kindness S.H.O.P. Tote.

Act of Kindness Bags

Carry recycled shopping bags with you on every shopping trip to show that you’re helping our planet by not using plastic or paper bags. Let’s end the waste of plastic and paper bags and keep our world clean and green. Head on over to Calypso and enter to wine one of these cool bags, I mean who doesn’t like free stuff right? Good luck!

A Few months ago we wrote about a green competition that was hosting a recycling challenge for innovative green designers. Sarah Turner’s beautiful ReDesign Lamp were a winner and my personal favorite. Sarah creatively reuses plastic bottles and transforms them into decorative lighting. The bottles are all collected from local cafes, which are cleaned and sandblasted. Then with some clever cutting they are transformed into awesome shapes. Only 5.5% of plastic bottles are recycled in the UK so these lights aim to do something creative with them while saving a few bottles from landfills.

Coca Cola 30

Sarah’s “three” shades reuse varying numbers and brands of plastic bottles. There’s a ‘Cola 30’ and a ‘Cola 10’ named as such because they reuse 30 and 10 Coca Cola bottles. The smallest is a table lamp, ‘Little Oasis’, which reuses a single Oasis bottle. It’s a small yet cool miniature version of its larger Coca Cola cousins.

Coca Cola 10

Sarah’s creative shades have been selected to take part in a competition at the Ideal Home Show in London. They’re competing against 25 other designs for the title of Concept Product of the Year. So if you like this innovative example of ‘reclaimed design’ show Sarah your support and vote for her here. She’s got my vote!

In an effort to promote healthy eating, the first family will be planting a vegetable garden on the South grounds of the White House. Although the 16-acre compound is maintained by the National Park Service, they won’t be doing the sowing and planting. The White House residence staff will take care of all that.

First Lady Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey’s “O” magazine, in the April issue, “We want to use it as a point of education, to talk about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food, and how you can take that food and make it part of a healthy diet.”

A variety of organic food and sustainable agriculture advocates have been pressing the Obama’s to plant such a garden.

If the Obama’s plant an organic garden on the White House grounds, it could have persuasive potential to generate tons of kindred gardens, not only in the United States but also around the world. Not a bad thought.