I'm writing this post in support of the 3rd annual "Blog Action Day" sponsored by Change.org. This year's theme is "Climate Change."
According to an email that I just received from the organizers, nearly 10,000 bloggers in 150 countries have signed up to participate in this year's event and are writing about climate change today. The organizers believe that 99% of participating bloggers have never written about climate change before, so this is a great way to engage a new audience in conversations about climate change.
Additionally, "Blog Action Day" has been the top Google blog search today and CNN just wrote an article "Bloggers Unite On Climate Change" about it! It's not too late to participate!
Here's my contribution to the cause:)
Did you catch the Monday, September 21st world premiere of the film "The Age of Stupid" or any of the events that took place during NYC's Climate Week last month? Maybe you heard that Moby and Thom Yorke of Radiohead performed benefit concerts that week? Or that Kofi Annan spoke, and Thom Yorke played "Reckoner", during the live world premiere of the film, from the NYC location?
Well if you were in NYC during Climate Week then you might be familiar with the work of the NY-based graphic design firm MSLK. The firm uses art to raise awareness about the consumption of plastics. Their project "Watershed" toured NYC during Climate Week. The eco-installation is composed of 1,500 plastic water bottles, to represent the number of plastic water bottles consumed EACH SECOND in the USA alone.
The installation was accompanied by hand-painted signs with facts that say things like "17 million barrels of oil are used in producing bottled water each year."
But this isn't just a climate-change related issue. It's also a matter of public health. Another sign says that "plastic leaches toxins into the water, which have been linked to health problems such as reproductive issues and cancer."
If that isn't reason enough to stop drinking bottled water, there's also the fact that (also on a sign) "bottled water costs 1,000 times more than tap water. Drinking 2 Litres of tap water a day only costs 50 cents per year." And "NYC tap water surpasses all federal and state health standards."
There was a bit of a ruckus lately over the aluminum bottle manufacturer SIGG's disclosure that prior to August 2008 the bottles that the company manufactured contained a liner that was not BPA-free. However this is no longer the case - all SIGG bottles now contain a BPA-free liner.
That being said, I was disappointed to hear about this because I own two SIGG bottles manufactured prior to August 2008 - one of which is the Jack Johnson 2008 Sleep Through The Static Tour water bottle. (The photo at the top of this page was taken in August 2008 at a Jack Johnson show at the Gorge Amphitheater in WA.)
From the October 2008 Kokua Hawaii Foundation e-newsletter: (Jack Johnson has organized several Kokua Festivals to raise funds for this nonprofit organization.)
... As a result, Kokua Hawaii Foundation has partnered with reusable bottle company, EcoUsable, to trade SIGG bottles for new EcoUsable stainless steel bottles. EcoUsable invents, produces and markets reusable water bottle products with the mission of helping the environment and people's health, affordably. Beginning October 1 through November 15, 2009 EcoUsable will be offering a trade of any SIGG bottles manufactured prior to August 2008 for new EcoUsable bottles.
Receive one (1) Stainless Steel EcoUsable bottle in exchange for any SIGG bottle traded to EcoUsable. There is no limit to how many bottles you can exchange. Got a Kokua branded bottle? Trade your Kokua branded SIGG bottle and receive a new Kokua branded EcoUsable bottle.
To exchange your bottle(s) with EcoUsable please print the Return Form and Label and send to: Ecousable Inc. 500 S. Sepulveda Blvd. #106, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Replacement bottles will be shipped to you free of charge in the US only from EcoUsable during the month of November.
Bottles collected by EcoUsable will be "upcycled" or converted into something usable. Please direct questions regarding the EcoUsable bottle trade to bottleexchange@ecousable.com
Stay posted for more exciting aspects of the EcoUsable and Kokua Hawaii Foundation partnership, including our new Plastic Free Schools program and EcoUsable's EcoRaising Program for schools. To learn more about EcoUsable please visit www.ecousable.com.
Similar news from Jack's October 9, 2009 e-newsletter:
The 2008 Rise Above Plastic - Sleep Through the Static Tour bottle produced by SIGG does contain the old liner. As a result, Jack Johnson Music has partnered with reusable bottle company, EcoUsable, to trade SIGG bottles for new EcoUsable stainless steel bottles. EcoUsable invents, produces and markets reusable water bottle products with the mission of helping the environment and people's health, affordably.
Beginning October 1 through November 15, 2009 EcoUsable will be offering a trade of any SIGG bottles manufactured prior to August 2008 for new EcoUsable bottles.
Receive one (1) Stainless Steel EcoUsable bottle in exchange for any SIGG bottle traded to EcoUsable. There is no limit to how many bottles you can exchange.
Got a Jack Johnson Sleep Through the Static branded bottle? Trade your Jack Johnson Sleep Through the Static branded SIGG bottle and receive a new EcoUsable bottle with a, fresh off the press, Jack Johnson:En Concert sticker that you can apply to it.
To exchange your bottle(s) with EcoUsable please print the Return Form and Label and send to: Ecousable Inc. 500 S. Sepulveda Blvd. #106, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266. Return Form and Label will be available on jackjohnonsmusic.com. Replacement bottles will be shipped to you free of charge in the US only from EcoUsable during the month of November.
Bottles collected by EcoUsable will be "upcycled" or converted into something usable.
Please direct questions regarding the EcoUsable bottle trade to bottleexchange@ecousable.com. To learn more about EcoUsable please visit www.ecousable.com.
So please - ditch the disposable plastic water bottles (and all disposable plastic goods, and as much plastic goods as possible, in general) and use the aluminum reusable bottles instead. Also check out http://noimpactproject.org/ for other lifestyle tips that you can follow to help make a difference in the struggle to end global warming.
Also check out "No Impact Man." The film is in theaters now.
From Blog Action Day Organizers:
ReplyDeleteWe hit 31,000 total trackable blog posts, and our current estimate is that together we reached at least 17.9 million people yesterday.
We just exceeded 13,000 registered bloggers on the site and are working to get all of you who posted but haven't yet registered into the final count.