Manuel said:
"This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]
Jay Knecht said:
"What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]
gazelle said:
"@ Dallas:
The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]
Barry said:
"Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda.
He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]
JJ said:
"Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]
Derek said:
""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]
American rock band '30 Seconds to Mars,' sing lyrics like: We were the kings and queens of promise / We were the victims of ourselves / These lessons that we learned here / Have only just begun. And they have chosen the vibrant bike culture of Los Angeles as the visual connection to their words.
Although parts of the city were closed off to allow for filming it is rather pleasing to see one of the world's more automobile-centric cities overrun with bicycles, with barely a car in sight. Though one does make a dramatic entrance stage left.
Quite a Character
I think the less I say about this one the better. You just have to see for yourself, and hopefully get it... For those who missed the previous appearance from Veronica, check out her interview (at the wheel of her SUV) here: Meet Veronica Moss, A.U.T.O. Lobbyist. I think she's a great character. Would love to have her visit other pedestrian and/or bike-friendly places to see her reaction. Via Streetfilms
"Bloody Hell! That's the biggest leopard seal I've ever seen!"
Leopard seals are pretty scary predators, especially if you're a penguin. But they can be friendly to other leopard seals, which is something that photographer Paul Nicklen learned during one of his trips to Antarctica. He was taking underwater photos when a leopard seal started feeding him penguins, starting with live ones, which were released close to him (to see if he would catch them), and ending with half-chewed dead ones. One theory is that the leopard seal saw his reflection in the lens of the camera and thought that Nicklen was a fellow predator, but an awkward one in need of some help. This went on for FOUR DAYS. You have to check out the video below, the photos are great!
Great Documentary Coming to Animal Planet
At the feet of the Kilimanjaro, about 1,200 elephants have been going through one of the worst drought that the savannah has seen in living memory. For those majestic animals, it is a struggle to stay alive, and to keep those around them safe. Echo: Queen of the Elephants is a new documentary ("Echo has been invaluable in teaching us about the social interactions, communication and leadership of elephants," says Moss. "But to those who have studied Echo for all these years--she is much more than a research subject. Echo is a powerful presence in our lives and the lives of her family. She's been a companion; she's given us joy and filled us with wonder on a daily basis, and for that, I will always be grateful." ) about a group of elephants led by their matriarch, Echo. It was filmed by some of the same people who made the acclaimed Planet Earth, so you know it's going to be something else...
Building Bipartisan Support for Public Transportation
Our friends at Streetfilms did a short interview with William Lind, co-autor of Moving Minds: Conservatives and Public Transportation. Mr. Lind seems to want to help "liberal transit advocates" translate some of their ideas in language that political conservatives can related to (well, some of them anyway), and his main goal seems to be the expansion of rail in the US. I highly recommend that you watch the video above if only for the part where he talks about how subsidized the highway system is. Via Streetfilms. See also: Warren Buffett Makes a $44 Billion (!) Bet on Trains.
"Everybody get out there and ride!"
The stats are out and according to the NYC DOT, bicycling in New York has shot up by 26% in 2009, which is a lot by any measure, though it is lower than the 35% increase in 2008. As you can see from the chart above, these increases are unprecedented. For more on these feel good news, make sure to check out the great video below.
My hope is this superb documentary will shock Americans and create a surge of
urgency that stops the atrocity of mountain top removal coal mining immediately. -- Ashley Judd
I know it doesn't work as literally as this, but what would you do if you knew that ancient mountains were being destroyed and communities torn apart every time you turned on a light in your home, or flipped the switch on your sound system, or heated up water for tea?
"I think this is the decade that it's all going to come together."
I don't know if it's going to have the same effect on you, but this video made me hopeful that things are changing. There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's finally a solid movement for walkable and bikeable cities, and it's good to see that NYC is getting on board because whatever happens there will be seen by everybody else around the US and the world. In the video, the Streetfilms crew and Rep. Blumenauer (who sometimes bikes to the White House) ride around town and look at some good and bad bike lanes, and discuss the future, including the upcoming transportation bill. Via Streetfilms. See also:UK's Cycle to Work Guarantee: Good Idea, But Doesn't Go Far Enough...
This Couldn't Have Been Possible a Few Short Years Ago (But We Still Have a Long Way to Go)
TreeHugger has done a lot of coverage of the 350 Movement (see Matt's slideshow, for example), and I'm proud of what has been accomplished though it was only a step along the way. The real goal needs to be a reduction of emissions and a transition to a greener & cleaner society. Our friends at Streetfilms have put together a video that shows some of what took place in San Francisco and around the world during the 350 events on October 24th. Check it out. Via StreetfilmsSee also: Illegal Logging Makes Indonesia World's Third Largest Emitter of Greenhouses Gases....
October 4th marked a day of action that spanned 181 countries and 5,200 separate events, all for the sake of one number: 350. Inspired by this colossal (and exceedingly creative) global display, a small cadre of New York models put their beautiful bodies behind the message of atmospheric salvation. In this video for 350.org, they count backward from 390 parts per million-our current carbon dioxide levels-shedding layers as they go. But they stop at 352, just shy of the mark, leaving the final glory to our imaginations.
(Video after the jump) ...
Credit: Anne Varak via Flickr.
The scene looks like a night sky, filled with stars. The stars are lighters and cell phones --- 20,000 people listening to Jack Johnson sing and play his guitar. Johnson, a surfer, solar-enthusiast and singer-songwriter, adds the title of "documentary subject" to his resume on Tuesday, Oct. 27. That's when the film "En Concert" will be released. It chronicles one leg of Johnson's 2008 "Sleep Through the Static" tour, where he attempted to bring the music of the ocean and the waves to stages across Europe....
Image via: Franchisingexpo
Created partly in response to the flailing economy and partly in response to this new revival in all things relating to green and stimulus, the LiveandLove.TV network interviews and profiles green entrepreneurs in all shapes and sizes. Want to learn how to grow your own commercial scale mushrooms? Just tune in. How about what it takes to make your own organic lemonade stand? Yep, they've got that too. Many of these jobs seem so romantic and idyllic, but what is the reality of running your own organic farmers market? LifeandLove.tv will show you now....
Here's What the NYC DOT Has Been Doing to Help Cyclists
It's always great to see cities that are making real efforts to encourage people to cycle. The benefits can be enormous: Healthier people, fewer cars on the road, less air pollution, a more human-scale city that attracts more tourists, etc. In the video above, various officials from New York City's Department of Transportation explain the thinking behind various types of new bike lanes in the city (on the left, buffered, and completely separated). Via StreetFilms See also: Walk21 NYC: It's All About Walking, Baby & Walk On, Students! Video of Walk to School Day in New York City....
This is a Dangerous Environment
"Just because there's a livable streets revolution underway in NYC doesn't mean that drivers have gotten the message. Cars blocking crosswalks, drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, unnecessary honking and a slew of other quality-of-walking violations are still a routine occurrence to contend with on nearly every corner of New York City," say our friends at StreetFilms. It reminds me of how freaked out I was by traffic the few times I went to NYC as a pedestrian. What do you think? Is it possible for motorists to learn to behave more sanely around pedestrians, or is the car itself causing the problem and we can't expect things to get much better? Let us know what you think in the comments....
World Pedestrian Leaders Meet in Manhattan
The 10th edition of the Walk21 Conference took place in New York City from October 7 to 9th, and our friends at StreetFilms were there to cover it. It's pretty great to see all the "walkable streets" stars from around the world converge to this single point and exchange ideas and best practices. Hopefully this means that experiments that works in one part of the world (f.ex. Copenhagen) will take less time spreading to other cities. Via StreetFilms. See also: Walk On, Students! Video of Walk to School Day in New York City...
all photos courtesy Jennifer Redfearn
Though it may be a number of years before your life is personally impacted by climate change, for people in low-lying island nations and the world's great river deltas rising sea levels and saltwater ruining land is already a fact of life. One such place is the Carteret Islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea. TreeHugger recently interviewed documentary filmmaker Jennifer Redfearn about her work-in-progress Sun Come Up, which chronicles the efforts of these people to uproot their lives and find new homes: ...
Jessica Biel, Pete Wentz, Alexandra Cousteau join Live Earth in Run for Water announcement in New York. Credit: Stuart Ramson, courtesy of Live Earth
This morning Live Earth, Global Water Challenge, and Dow -- joined by Alexandra Cousteau, explorer and activist; Jessica Biel, actor and Live Earth supporter; Pete Wentz, artist (of band Fall Out Boy-fame) and activist; Angelique Kidjo, Grammy award-winning artist and UNICEF ambassador; and Jenny Fletcher, athlete and model -- announced Run for Water. The global solutions-based initiative will feature a series of 6km runs/walks -- the average distance children and women walk to access water -- and will kick off Earth Week on April 18, 2010 with live musical performances and water education activities -- in an effort to ignite a global movement to end the water epidemic. ...
Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele are a Seattle-based documentary team specialising in multimedia stories about people, nature and climate change. They are also the just announced recipients of $10,000 from the eco outdoor clothing company Nau, who through their Grant 4 Change campaign, which ran from 7 July to 31 August, exposed the work of over 280 very worthy nominees to a broader audience.
Ten finalists (five selected by the public, and five by Nau staff) were chosen, and Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele have emerged as the winning grantees. As Nau put it in their media release, "Working together for over a decade, Benjamin and Sara have told stories through photography, field audio recordings and words. From semi-nomadic reindeer herdsmen in the Arctic to wildfire fighters of the American West, the two have documented the lives of people on a regional level, understanding that in order to mobilize a global effort we must first generate local will."...
Initially, the Tokyo International Film Festival passed on screening The Cove, the documentary about the annual slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Though it didn't offer a reason, considering the government's media ban on whale/dolphin news due to the controversy involving Japanese whaling, it was no surprise. Ironically, the theme for this year's festival is: "Action for Earth 2009." So what happened?...
Most DVDs contain clips and extra footage highlighting funny outakes, deleted scenes and general commentary from the cast. With the release of Away We Go, the filmmakers wanted to highlight their efforts to go green throughout the production of the film, instead of just adding more jokes and outtakes. The biggest hurdle: this was a road-trip movie, which means lots of locations and lots of driving, aka lots of emissions. Yikes! Find out how they crossed this hurdle and more....
That's a Mouthful...
Our friends at StreetFilms (nice folding bike, Clarence!) have yet another great video about what a more sustainable city should look like (or at least a step in that direction). This one is about a new bike path in New York City on Sands Street. The approach is a bit different from most bike paths. Check out the video to see for yourself! Via StreetFilms. See also: Congestion Charge Cuts Waiting Time 50% and CO2 by 18% in Stockholm...
Image via: smif on Flickr.com
Last week was National Parks Week, and with the launch Ken Burn's new series "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," on PBS, celebrating the great outdoors, it's time to keep the party going. The Sierra Club wants to give you a chance to experience some of the best our national parks system has to offer by giving one lucky contestant a trip to Yosemite (and San Francisco). Here's how:...
Thanks to All Those Who Took Part in PARK(ing) Day 2009!
If you don't know what PARK(ing) Day the videos (above and below) by our friends at StreetFilms are a good intro. It shows just how much fun the event can be, and how many cool ideas those who participate come up with (I liked the one with the ball pen, reminds me of this XKCD cartoon). The first video was produced by John Hamilton in San Francisco, and the one below by Clarence Eckerson in New York City. Good job!...
Mobilizing Australian Youth to Send a Message About Climate Policy
The video above is a commercial for the Youth Decide program by the non-profit Australian Youth Climate Coalition (check out the video below that explains their goal). They say: "Youth Decide '09 is a national youth vote on climate change. We're giving Australia's 4.8 million young people the chance to vote on what kind of world we want to inherit. A united youth voice will help compel the Australian government to lead the way in securing a strong global agreement. "...
Image via: Envirobro
Sacramento doesn't get much attention, other than the Governator, and they definitely don't get much green love. In fact, finding green resources can be a bit of a challenge in the city. But not to worry, Enviro Bro, The Hardest Working Man in the Environment, is on the scene now and is working to both talk about the issues and offer advice on all things green. Cue the Marvin Gaye "Mercy, Mercy Me." ...
Images: Sundance Channel
"I Lost My Appetite"
In case you missed the announcement a couple weeks ago, Green Porno has been renewed for a 3rd season (and a book), and today is the official launch online, with the TV launch scheduled for next week (September 21st). As usual, the videos are educative and scientifically accurate, but they require a sense of humor and a taste for the surreal....
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 11.19.09
I know it doesn't work as literally as this, but what would you do if you knew that ancient mountains were being destroyed and communities torn apart every time you turned on a light in your home, or flipped the switch on your sound system, or heated up water for tea?
Credit: 
Image via: 
Image credit: Photo of mountaintop removal coal mining at Kayford Mine, West Virginia. © 2006 B. Mark Schmerling, courtesy Sierra Club Library
A new award-winning film 
all photos courtesy Jennifer Redfearn
Though it may be a number of years before your life is personally impacted by climate change, for people in low-lying island nations and the world's great river deltas 
Jessica Biel, Pete Wentz, Alexandra Cousteau join Live Earth in Run for Water announcement in New York. Credit: Stuart Ramson, courtesy of 
Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele are a Seattle-based documentary team specialising in multimedia stories about people, nature and climate change. They are also the just announced recipients of $10,000 from the eco outdoor clothing company Nau, who through their Grant 4 Change campaign, which ran from 7 July to 31 August, exposed the work of over 280 very worthy nominees to a broader audience.
Ten finalists (five selected by the public, and five by Nau staff) were chosen, and 
Photo: 
Initially, the 
Image via: 
Image via: 
Images: Sundance Channel
"I Lost My Appetite"
In case you missed the announcement a couple weeks ago, 
