I blogged about the Bay Area based org Free the Children here. They have some big events coming up - looking forward to the webcasts!
(Tomorrow!) Sept 30 Toronto Event/Broadcast:
Toronto Air Canada Center, 9am-2pm
Doors open: 8:00am
Preshow starts: 8:45am
Doors Close/Show starts at 9:30am
Show ends: 2:00pm
Check out the list of speakers & music performers here - Deepak Chopra, The Buried Life. (OK, these guys are involved with the youth Plastics Are Forever Summit in Long Beach, CA early next year - I really have to figure out who these guys are!)
Oct 15 Vancouver Event/Broadcast:
Rogers Arena (formerly known as GM Place)
Doors open: 8:30am
Preshow starts: 9:15am
Doors close: 9:45am
Show starts: 10:00am
Show ends: 2:30pm
Check out the list of speakers & performers here - Colbie Caillat, Al Gore, Philippe Costeau ... I'm psyched:)
"Like" We Day on Facebook to get the updates. For every "like" We Day's sponsor, Free the Children, will receive a $1 donation from one of the org's sponsors.
Hopefully this is the place to watch the broadcast stream. If that does not work then try the Free the Children homepage.
Showing posts with label Al Gore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al Gore. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Al Gore's New TV Spots in IN & ME :: Next Up - AR & MO
Repower America, a project of Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection is upping the pressure on swing-vote Democrats to support legislative action on climate change.
This spot will run for at least 3 weeks on Indiana's cable and local network affiliates, to encourage voters to contact Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) - a long-time hold out on climate legislation.
Also check out the ad running in Maine, to pressure Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME.)
Next up - segments in Missouri to reach Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO),and in Arkansas to reach Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR.)
This spot will run for at least 3 weeks on Indiana's cable and local network affiliates, to encourage voters to contact Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) - a long-time hold out on climate legislation.
Also check out the ad running in Maine, to pressure Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME.)
Next up - segments in Missouri to reach Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO),and in Arkansas to reach Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR.)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Middle School Students Wake Community Up to Global Warming
On July 29, 2008, approximately 40 Ventura Charter School of Arts, and Global Education and Open Classroom middle school students erected 10 poles and signs along the Ventura Promenade, on the beach, to "wake up Ventura to the danger of sea level rise, because of global warming."
In preparation for the June 29th, event, the students presented to the Ventura City Council, and gained their enthusiastic endorsement.
The students held regular meetings at both middle schools where they made t-shirts, painted, and prepared the poles. Each school's team had a leader and a mentor: a professional from the community who advised the students. The project was also supported by an Advisory Board of adults and students, which included a City of Ventura engineer, an architect, a PR specialist, a green builder, a designer, and an environmental activist. The students had the support of the Green Building Council of Ventura County, the City of Ventura's Green Team, VCcool, and Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education.
On June 29th, in celebration of the poles' installation, the students held a Global Warming Youth Rally with youth bands and speakers who spoke to the crowd about global warming, held at the Ventura Promenade Park.
Following the installation, the students ran a booth at the 4th of July Street Fair, where they provided local businesses and neighbors with information about the poles, and invited them to participate by installing poles on their properties.
Ventura sits on the coast, about an hour north of Los Angeles.
Scientists project that within 100 years, sea level could rise 240 feet worldwide, because of Arctic and Antarctic ice melt, caused by global warming. That would put Ventura completely underwater. Just if Greenland melts, which climate change experts say could easily happen within one century, Ventura will look like the picture, below.
These signs, which read "You will be UNDERWATER here", mark a sea level 23 feet above current sea level. This indicates where the new sea level would be, if Greenland should melt.
The poles list well-known structures in Ventura, which would be underwater if the sea level rose 23 feet - Mandalay Power Station, the 101 Freeway, the waste water treatment plant, Pierpont Community, and the Ventura Pier.
The project's director, Alec Loorz, an 8th grader at the time, explained it this way:
The poles will also show how far underwater you would be standing at that particular location if we do nothing about global warming and the ice in Greenland melts.
We want to give people immediate things they can do as individuals and as a city. So, the poles send people to our website, www.SLAPventura.com (which will be live soon) to learn about what they can do to stop global warming. Our goal is to get people to change the way they view using energy and to care about the future generations of people who will be dealing with the impact of global warming.
photo: Alec Loorz
So how did this all begin? Alec explained ...
I started an organization called Kids vs Global Warming after I saw Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” last year on DVD. I wanted to be one of the 1,000 people who were trained by Gore to give the presentation themselves. But, I was turned away because I was too young. You had to be 14 and I was only 12 at the time. So, I created one of my own, with videos and music and animation so that kids would be interested and inspired to go out and make a difference. I now give the presentations to schools and environmental conferences all over California. Kids are really passionate about this issue and just need to see that their voices matter and they can make a difference in stopping climate change.
Then, last summer, I just had an idea for my town to be able to see how global warming will really affect us, and how soon. I thought if we could put up poles all around Ventura that showed how far underwater you’d be at different locations throughout the city, people would begin to see how it will affect them and make changes. I started talking about it with kids at my school and it grew from there.
Alec gave 30+ global warming presentations before being invited by Al Gore to be formally trained with the Climate Project in October of 2008. He is now the youngest trained presenter with The Climate Project.
The students hope to install 120 poles by Earth Day 2009. For the most current info, check out Alec's website.
This project has earned the support of the Surfrider Foundation's Ventura, CA Chapter.
In preparation for the June 29th, event, the students presented to the Ventura City Council, and gained their enthusiastic endorsement.
The students held regular meetings at both middle schools where they made t-shirts, painted, and prepared the poles. Each school's team had a leader and a mentor: a professional from the community who advised the students. The project was also supported by an Advisory Board of adults and students, which included a City of Ventura engineer, an architect, a PR specialist, a green builder, a designer, and an environmental activist. The students had the support of the Green Building Council of Ventura County, the City of Ventura's Green Team, VCcool, and Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education.
On June 29th, in celebration of the poles' installation, the students held a Global Warming Youth Rally with youth bands and speakers who spoke to the crowd about global warming, held at the Ventura Promenade Park.
Following the installation, the students ran a booth at the 4th of July Street Fair, where they provided local businesses and neighbors with information about the poles, and invited them to participate by installing poles on their properties.
Ventura sits on the coast, about an hour north of Los Angeles.
Scientists project that within 100 years, sea level could rise 240 feet worldwide, because of Arctic and Antarctic ice melt, caused by global warming. That would put Ventura completely underwater. Just if Greenland melts, which climate change experts say could easily happen within one century, Ventura will look like the picture, below.
These signs, which read "You will be UNDERWATER here", mark a sea level 23 feet above current sea level. This indicates where the new sea level would be, if Greenland should melt.
The poles list well-known structures in Ventura, which would be underwater if the sea level rose 23 feet - Mandalay Power Station, the 101 Freeway, the waste water treatment plant, Pierpont Community, and the Ventura Pier.
The project's director, Alec Loorz, an 8th grader at the time, explained it this way:
The poles will also show how far underwater you would be standing at that particular location if we do nothing about global warming and the ice in Greenland melts.
We want to give people immediate things they can do as individuals and as a city. So, the poles send people to our website, www.SLAPventura.com (which will be live soon) to learn about what they can do to stop global warming. Our goal is to get people to change the way they view using energy and to care about the future generations of people who will be dealing with the impact of global warming.
photo: Alec Loorz
So how did this all begin? Alec explained ...
I started an organization called Kids vs Global Warming after I saw Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” last year on DVD. I wanted to be one of the 1,000 people who were trained by Gore to give the presentation themselves. But, I was turned away because I was too young. You had to be 14 and I was only 12 at the time. So, I created one of my own, with videos and music and animation so that kids would be interested and inspired to go out and make a difference. I now give the presentations to schools and environmental conferences all over California. Kids are really passionate about this issue and just need to see that their voices matter and they can make a difference in stopping climate change.
Then, last summer, I just had an idea for my town to be able to see how global warming will really affect us, and how soon. I thought if we could put up poles all around Ventura that showed how far underwater you’d be at different locations throughout the city, people would begin to see how it will affect them and make changes. I started talking about it with kids at my school and it grew from there.
Alec gave 30+ global warming presentations before being invited by Al Gore to be formally trained with the Climate Project in October of 2008. He is now the youngest trained presenter with The Climate Project.
The students hope to install 120 poles by Earth Day 2009. For the most current info, check out Alec's website.
This project has earned the support of the Surfrider Foundation's Ventura, CA Chapter.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Dance Moves that Generate Electricity
I frequently visit live music venues. I can't remember the last time that I saw a recycling bin available for public use ... and trust me, I look for them! So I was very psyched when I found an article in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of E: The Environmental Magazine about dance clubs that are going green!
Some stats from the article:
* The average dance club uses 150,000 watts of electricity.
* Temple Nightclub opened in San Francisco, in 2004:
- Diverts 89% of its landfill waste.
- Use corn-based biodegradable cups.
- Emloys a Director of Sustainability - Mike Zuckerman.
- Use rainwater collection system for toilet plumbing.
- Boasts a vertical garden that landscapes teh exterior of the club (located in a100 year-old building.)
- Considering giving $1 discount on drinks to a patron who re-use his/her cup.
- Energy generating dance floor!
* Other establishments of note:
- The Butterfly Social Club in Chicago, IL
- Beta Nightclub in Denver, CO (spokesperson is Cathering Nguyen)
- Greenhouse in NYC (spokesperson Adam Starkman; ownder John B.)
* The green clubs trend started with a company called Qurrent BV, based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (spokesperson is Vera Verkooijen).
- The first company to devise the energy-generating dance floor.
- Each dancer generates 5-10 watts of energy, depending on the size of the dancer, and how energetically the person is dancing.
- The company won Richard Branson's contest, the Green Challenge, and a prize of €500,000 (US$700,000), for their winning entry "The Sustainable Dance Club." "The Sustainable Dance Club" entry was selected from a pool of 400 projects that originated in 50 countries.
This is the company's story --
Interestingly, the annual Virgin Festival, which takes place in Baltimore, MD is a Richard Branson event. Branson aims to make it an environmentally friendly festival. In 2007, I was a member of the green team, organized by the Spitfire Agency. It was a great success! The festival diverted 90% of the waste by establishing recycling, trash, and compost bins for use by fans, bands, and crew. Check out the Virgin Mobile USA press release.
Richard Branson and actress Daryl Hannah, are among the first to check out the University of MD's "light bike" at the Virgin Festival, in Baltimore in early August of 2007. They had this bike custom made to demonstrate alternative forms of power. If you ride the bike, you have a choice to power the traditional incandescent light or the compact fluorescent. To power the traditional bulb, you have to peddle 4x as hard as you would have to peddle, to light the fluorescent bulb!
Branson also held a contest that awarded an environmentally-themed concert, Flick-Fest, to a Canadian city.
From CBC Radio 3's blog:
"Humanity's window to act on climate change is narrowing," said Branson in a press release. "And it's up to each of us to find new ways of getting more people involved in this global fight. So next spring, Estevan will hold a carbon-neutral party to raise awareness-spreading the word to more Canadians. It's going to be a blast."
To win the contest, people across Canada had to log on to www.flickoff.org, and test out the site's carbon calculator, which measures people's environmental impact, then offers up tips for improvements they can make. Estevan won the concert because it had the most people per capita sign on and measure their footprint. (No measurements were done after that to see whether or not people actually made changes.)
Also, if you missed it - in 2007 Al Gore and Branson teamed up to offer a $25 million (£12.5 million) Earth Challenge Prize to the person who comes up with the best way of removing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
For those interested in this kind of thing, an enviro social networking and activism site, called Green Thing was a runner up, in Branson's 2007 the Green Challenge contest. One of Green Things co-founders Andy Hobsbawm spoke at TED 2008.
Here's Andy's talk. Andy shares a fresh ad campaign about going green -- and some of the fringe benefits.
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