Author: The Daily Green Staff

If you liked ‘Planet Earth,’ you’ll love ‘Life’
(Photo: Discovery Channel/
BBC/ Simon Blakeney)

The Discovery Channel celebrated its 25th anniversary and the launch of the Life series with an incredible party at New York’s Lincoln Center Thursday. How incredible? The New York Pops played the score to the first episode live and in time with every flick of the gecko’s tongue, every twitch of the cheetah’s shoulder.

“Life” is the next project by the same BBC-Discovery team that produced “Planet Earth.” The names of each led to some humorous phrasing throughout the night, as Discovery Channel bigwigs with titles like Executive Producer of Life discussed how impressed they were with building on the success they had creating Planet Earth.

They are justifiably proud. The first episode of “Life” airs March 21, and 10 more episodes will follow after it. Like “Planet Earth,” there are unprecedented shots that were made possible only by new digital video technology … and a tremendous amount of patience. This series is narrated by Oprah Winfrey, who apparently saw some of the footage and immediately signed on.

If I have any complaint about the episode I saw — and it’s hard to come up with anything to criticize — it’s that the whole thing feels like a magnificent highlight reel of the greatest wildlife footage ever captured. What’s wrong with that? The kernels of science and knowledge that Oprah intones seem like almost an afterthought at times, so that you learn very little about evolution, habitats or conservation imperatives. But you are nonetheless awed by the wonders of life on Earth, and invited to gasp, laugh and empathize with various creatures as they try to survive.

There’s incredible footage of a tiny poison arrow frog, about the size of a fingernail, carrying its tadpoles one-by-one on its back up into the forest canopy, climbing as much as a half mile, to deposit each in its own little droplet of water, where it develops safe from predators. There’s first-ever-seen footage of three cheetahs working together to pull down an ostrich that would be out of the league of any individual cheetah (and believe me, you will leave thinking ostriches are pretty bad-ass even though this one doesn’t survive.) And there is extraordinary aerial footage of dolphins off the coast of Florida, creating muddy circles in the water that act like nets: as the fish become encircled, they leap from the water into the smiling jaws of the dolphins. Amazing.

Little details also catch your eye: Insects seem impressively thoughtful and calculating when filmed in such detail that you can watch their eyes forming (incredibly, like blown glass) during metamorphosis, and their crab-like battles for dominance on a tree branch.

But you don’t want to read my impressions. You want to see some clips. Here they are:

From “Challenges of Life,” premiering March 21, 8 p.m.:

From “Reptiles and Amphibians,” premiering March 21, at 9 p.m.:

More from The Daily Green
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc
March 7, 2010
Six real people making a real difference for the environment
Everyone knows someone who deserves an award. Well, The Daily Green is giving you a chance to recognize your hero. We’re calling for nominations for local heroes, one of whom will win a Heart of Green Award at a ceremony in April in New York City!

The Heart of Green Awards honor individuals, companies, and organizations who have helped green go mainstream. In 2009, The Daily Green hosted its first annual Heart of Green Awards ceremony, sponsored by eBay, at the LEED-Gold certified Heart Tower in New York City.

The 2009 awards winners included actresses and advocates Alicia Silverstone and Gloria Reuben, home garden evangelist Roger Doiron, children’s health advocate Deirdre Imus, model and sustainable fashion advocate Summer Rayne Oakes, TV personality Maria Menounos, electronics recycling business owner Jennifer Canty, New York City, and the Planet Green TV network.

In addition to the awards for celebrities and heavyweights in the environmental movement, one award is given to a local hero nominated by The Daily Green’s audience. In 2009, we received nominations that told us 40 inspiring stories about real people making a real difference.

It’s your turn again. Who in your community deserves to be recognized? Is it the organizer of a local farmers’ market … or the local farmer herself? Maybe it’s the shopkeeper who refuses to sell suspect plastics … or the construction worker who donated his time to weatherize neighborhood homes. Is it the mayor who installed solar power panels on the town hall … or the watchdog who held the mayor accountable for a bad decision?

Tell us, and the rest of The Daily Green audience, why your nominee deserves to be recognized with a Heart of Green Award. We’ll recognize many of the nominees by publishing your accounts of their good deeds on The Daily Green, and the winner will receive his or her award at the Heart of Green Awards ceremony, April 20, in New York City.

About Greg Perry, 2009’s Local Hero

The 2009 Heart of Green Local Hero is Greg Perry, an Ohio school teacher who surmounted great obstacles to create “the Green Dream,” the state’s largest green products expo.

The extraordinary class project raised $150,000 in 2008, and exceeded that mark in 2009 — all to create the Ultimate Green Classroom, a model classroom completely refurbished with sustainable, nontoxic materials, powered by the sun, and open to the school and to the community. And he did it all while battling cancer.

Adamant that the Green Dream live on, he taught his class by Skype and made a courageous appearance at The Daily Green’s Heart of Green Awards that brought the audience to tears (watch the video below).

(He’s doing great by the way, and is back leading his class.)

2009 nominees
The nominations for the 2009 Local Hero award included many worthy candidates. We celebrated dozens of nominees in this feature: 40 Inspiring Stories About Real People Making a Real Difference.

2010 nominees
Here’s a look at a few of the exceptional nominees that have already been suggested. Take a look then nominate your local hero!

2010 Local Hero nominees: Real people making a real difference

Katie Spotz, founder of the Blue Planet Run
We often doubt the power of one person, especially when it comes to tackling a global challenge like clean water. It is with the highest admiration that my peers and I nominate Miss Katie Spotz for the 2010 Heart of Green Local Hero.

As a guest speaker in our Effective Leadership Academy, Katie came into our marketing class to speak about her upcoming extreme adventure and its cause. On New Year’s Day 2010, she began her challenge of being the youngest (age 22) and first American to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat solo. Her goal is to raise enough funds to secure fresh water for at least 1,000 people in developing nations.

Although Katie is from a small town in Ohio, much like my classmates and me, she has committed her life to helping raise awareness, using her athletic abilities, for global issues. But when it comes to endurance athletics, Spotz seems to find her stride. She has run numerous marathons, ultramarathons, and even cycled across the United States. Motivated and consumed by her cause of fresh water for all, Spotz views her athletic endeavors as acts of meditation. Believing the challenge to be as much a mental one as a physical one.

Katie shoved off the coast of Africa in her one-woman rowboat, prepared to cruise 2,500 miles over nearly 100 days alone at sea, hoping to set shore in Guyana in South America later this spring. Although the rowing adventure is amazing, what our class found most compelling is Katie’s vision, her passion, and her commitment to making a difference.

After hearing her speak and watching her daily progress across the Atlantic, we definitely look at ourselves and our company’s goals differently. We’ve also committed proceeds from our 2010 Green Dream Showcase to support Katie Spotz and her charity, the Blue Planet Run.

Nominated by Hillary Sadler, student CEO of the Green Dream, Beachwood, Ohio

Billiam van Roestenberg, farmer at Liberty View Farm
Billiam van Roestenberg’s “rent a chicken” and “lease and apple tree” programs may be as unique and creative as he is! A transplanted NYC person, Billiam preaches the values of sustainable agriculture to local customers of his Liberty View Farm and also to his many contacts in New York City.

My take on Billiam’s mission: Make local agriculture accessible and sensible to customers, and rewarding to both the farmer and their customers. One of Billiam’s slogans that illustrates this is: “Do you know who your farmer is?”

I’ve never met a man with as many ideas about how to change the world as Billiam has! Last year, Billiam won Huffington Post’s “Hottest Farmer” contest. And more recently, the Sundance Channel produced a short featuring Billiam and his farm (it’s embedded on his homepage.)

Nominated by Daniel Clark, Kingston, N.Y.

Robina Suwol, founder of California Safe Schools
A true visionary and champion for children’s rights, Robina Suwol is the Founder & Executive Director of California Safe Schools (CSS), a celebrated children’s environmental health and environmental justice nonprofit coalition of over 50 organizations located in Southern California. CSS is committed to the health and safety of children, staff and community members who reside near school sites.

CSS is internationally recognized for spearheading the most stringent pesticide policy in the nation at Los Angeles Unified School District (2nd largest in the nation). This policy called Integrated Pest Management Policy, uses low risk methods to eliminate pest and weeds.

The policy was the first in the United States to embrace the Precautionary Principle and Parents Right to Know about pesticides used on school campuses. Today, it has become the model for school districts and communities internationally.

On October 6, 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 405 (Montanez) sponsored by California Safe Schools. This law closes a loophole protecting more than 6 million California K-12 public school students and hundreds of thousands of teachers and school employees from exposure to experimental pesticides whose health effects are unknown. Since founding CSS.

An articulate and compelling speaker, Suwol gives frequent presentations on safety to parents, students, school officials & legislators.changing

Nominated by Donna Inglima

Ally Maize, founder of Green Youth Movement
After becoming impassioned towards the eco-system’s plight when researching cars at the tender age of 15, Ally Maize decided it she would take it upon herself to do something good for the environment.

She began slowly by employing reusable grocery bags instead of using plastic, changing her hot water heating system inside her house to tank-less, and adding solar panels on the roof. What followed these personal improvements was nothing short of incredible for a 15-year-old, newly set out to save the world: the creation of the Green Youth Movement (GYM), an organization to educate kids and teens about global warming and pressing environmental issues.

GYM promotes a thoughtful mindset that values the earth and our future in hopes of inspiring awareness and giving a broad and easily applicable understanding of what it means to “live green.”

In the two years since its inception, GYM has made incredible strides in the education and participation of adolescents by making a name for itself among green Los Angeles non-profits. From simple (but important!) plantings to hosting an upcoming eco-friendly fashion show during LA’s Fashion Week to presenting their 2009 “Inspiration Award” to former Vice President Al Gore, GYM is increasingly visible and influential to its target audience.

Ally Maize deserves to be recognized for bringing the green message to LA’s next generation of consuming adults — arguably the most important and yet least reached-out-to demographic. Ally and her GYM “green teens” are looking towards the future when many are stuck only paying attention to the present.

Nominated by Spencer Bernstein

Mary Jo Graham, Environmental Educator
For over 30 years, Mary Jo Graham (pictured far left) has had a fascination with our natural world. An environmental activist and advocate, she is a Naturalist for Earth Spirit Educational Services teacher, educating area students and the general public. She recently graduated with honors from the University at Buffalo with a degree in Environmental Studies. Currently, MJ is researching homesteading and self-sufficiency, applying some of these practices in her daily life.

Mary Jo has also brought much to Buffalo State College’s Winterim program, a series of staff development seminars. She classes on topics such as Earthly Cleaning, Beginning Cheese Making, Make your Own Groceries, as well as bringing in Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of great Predators, a documentary that was attended by over 100 people, a Winterim record.

Earth Spirit is another place where Mary Jo helps provide diverse educational programs to schools, community groups and the public. She is there for most events whether it is a snowshoe hike through the woods or maple sugaring techniques you can always expect to see Mary Jo’s smiling face.

She helps people change the way they think about nature and their role in it good or bad. She is always available and spreads the word not only verbally but by her very lifestyle. You can find her in the spring stirring a pot of maple sap making her own syrup. She is an avid bird enthusiast and someone I am very happy to call friend. No one deserves this honor more than she.

Nominated by Susan M. Jaworski

Julie Naylon, founder of No Wire Hangers
Julie Naylon truly has a heart of green. Since founding her green home-organizing business No Wire Hangers in 2008, she has worked tirelessly to help the people of Los Angeles streamline and green their homes, and even more importantly, to rethink their entire approach to life.

The Los Angeles Organizing Awards rewarded her for her work with “The Green Award for the Most Eco-friendly Organizing Business” in 2009.

Reminding clients and friends alike to buy smarter, repurpose more often, recycle everything (even ex-boyfriends — Julie has put several of hers to work while establishing No Wire Hangers), Naylon is launching a revolution one eco-clothes hanger at a time.

The more she learns, the more she strives to teach others about how our choices impact the planet. She’s devoted herself to spreading the word about how we can, quite literally, save the world by taking easy but crucial steps to keep our unwanted possessions out of landfills and stop the deluge of junk mail to our homes.

Whether she’s touring a local garbage dump in order to see where our stuff really goes, volunteering at local green expos, donating her time to local charities, recycling all matter of found material into stylish home furnishings (which she blogs about at julienaylon.blogspot.com), or teaching workshops in New York City and Los Angeles about living a greater, greener existence, she’s quickly becoming the go-to green girl from coast to coast.

Nominated by Sarah Tomlinson

More from The Daily Green
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc
February 26, 2010
FTC to retailers: “Bamboo” fabric isn’t bamboo
The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on a marketing claim that may have ensnared many environmentally conscious buyers: “bamboo.”

While clothing and other textiles may have started off, at some point, as the rapidly regenerative bamboo, the FTC says companies can’t label rayon as bamboo, even if it’s made from bamboo. Why?

Because, according to the FTC:

Rayon is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with harsh chemicals that release hazardous air pollution. Any plant or tree – including bamboo – could be used as the cellulose source, but the fiber that is created is rayon.

The FTC this week sent warning letters to 78 retailers about misguided use of “bamboo” marketing. Among the warned retailers: Amazon.com, Barney’s New York, Bed Bath & Beyond, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Bloomingdale’s, Costco Wholesale, Garnet Hill, Gold Toe, Hanes, Isotoner, JC Penney, Jockey, Kmart, Kohl’s, Land’s End, Macy’s, Maidenform, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, QVC, REI, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Shop NBC, Spiegel, Sports Authority, Target, The Gap, The Great Indoors, Tommy Bahama, Toys R’ Us, Wal-Mart, and Zappos.com. Last year, the FTC sued several retailers for advertising rayon as bamboo.

“We need to make sure companies use proper labeling and advertising in their efforts to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers,” David C. Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a prepared statement. “Rayon is rayon, even if bamboo has been used somewhere along the line in the manufacturing process.”

If retailers and manufacturers fail to comply, the penalty can be severe: $16,000 per violation.

The FTC’s consumer tips include this information about “bamboo” rayon:
- Rayon made from bamboo uses “toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air.”
- “Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don’t feel silky smooth.”
- “There’s also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant.”
- “No traits of the original plant are left in the finished product.”
More from The Daily Green
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc
February 4, 2010
Video: Eight innovative, earth-friendly electronics
What do a new Sony notebook computer, a Casio projector, and a Samsung cell phone have in common? They’re all spotlighted by the Consumer Electronics Association as emerging green products that made waves at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.

The Sony notebook, Casio projector, and Samsung Reclaim are all made with earth-friendly materials. Also highlighted in this video spot are the YoGen charger, the ReGen ReNu solar powered charger, and the iGo Power Smart Tower, which helps you reduce power consumption by automatically shutting down devices waiting on “standby.”

Learn a little about these and more in this video produced by the Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group whose members include many of the manufacturers included here.

More from The Daily Green
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc
January 27, 2010
The Apple tablet: Better for the environment?
The Apple Tablet (or iSlate, or the iPad, perhaps… no one yet knows) will be unveiled Wednesday, and there’s rampant speculation about what it will look like, what it will do, what apps will work on it … which publishers will make their print publications available on it, whether or not it will help or destroy the book, magazine and/or newspaper industries … and, of course, what Steve Jobs will call it.

What is it? Well, that’s another little detail we don’t know for sure. Newsweek‘s Tectonic Shifts blog put it like this: “After early speculation that the gadget would be a ‘Kindle killer,’ a gaming device, or just a really big iPhone, it appears possible that the Apple slate will be … all of the above.” (The writer then readily admits that the description is just speculation based on speculation.)

What seems clear is that Apple will offer up a new electronic device, bigger than a phone and smaller than a laptop, that performs many of the functions of both, with an added bonus: an e-reader for those aging old print products, like newspapers, magazines and books. (You know, the media that still produce most of the relevant news the rest of us talk about.)

The Daily Green wanted to add some speculation: Is this is a game changer for the environment?

The death of printed media would be an awful thing for a lot of our friends, but it would save about 125,000 trees annually. That’s a lot of trees — enough that a book reader who burns through one new book every two weeks would pay off the environmental debt created by an e-reader in just a year (at least as measured in carbon dioxide emissions). That’s according to a Cleantech analysis that measured the relative impact of e-readers, using the Amazon Kindle as its test case. Of course, because Amazon doesn’t make plain just how resource-intensive the Kindle is, and because many people read fewer than two books a month (or choose borrowed, used or library books rather than buying new hardcovers) the analysis has inspired some persuasive skepticism by Raz Godelnik, CEO of Eco-Libris, an organization trying to reduce the environmental impact of reading. But he’s optimistic about the Apple tablet.

“Although we have had the Kindle and other reading devices around for over two years, we still can’t say if these devices are better for the environment compared to the traditional paper books,” Godelnik said. “We’re still waiting for a life cycle assessment that will tell us if e-readers are greener or not, and one of the reasons we don’t have it yet is that the current manufacturers don’t seem to be willing to provide all the necessary information required for such an assessment. My guestimation is that they just don’t see too much importance in proving that digital books not only save paper, but are actually better for the environment. We hope Apple will look at it differently.”

But one shouldn’t consider only displaced print media in the tablet equation, according to both Godelnik and Christopher P. Conway, of GreenT Digital.

“What you’re going to see is these devices will replace netbooks and laptops, and the Kindle and the nook,” Conway said. “A lot of people may have it be their primary means of accessing the Internet. I think that’s very positive.”

“These devices are 3G-enabled,” Conway added. “It is a game changer. People could stop getting cable Internet at home. If you could do all your social media, emailing, accessing photos … what is really left that you need a desktop or laptop for?” And with those clunky desktops and laptops goes large demands for precious metals and plastics (replacing a 5 or 10-pound laptop or 30-pound desktop with a one-pound tablet) as well as energy (replacing as much as 100 watts of energy demand with as little as 1 watt).

So then, there is some real potential for the Apple Tablet (or whatever it might be called, or whatever tablet manufacturer wins the hearts of the most users) to reduce the strain on the environment caused by both our print and electronic habits … if, that is, it is built smartly and responsibly and we change our existing habits. A big part of the growth in electricity demand in the past decade is the proliferation of electronic devices. A big part of the toxic waste stream is the e-waste from all those discarded last-generation devices. Will we substitute the tablet for our other electronics?

If you are ready to get rid of an old cell phone, laptop, iPhone, digital camera or other electronic device and want to harvest some cash in exchange for it, one option is NextWorth, which will pay you for your old phone. Other recycling options include Dyscern, a 2009 Heart of Green award winner, these four charity cell phone recyclers, and the electronics manufacturers themselves.

More from The Daily Green
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc
January 26, 2010
Nominate your local hero for a Heart of Green Award!
(Photo: Doug Goodman)

Last year, The Daily Green recognized Greg Perry, a schoolteacher in Ohio, as the first recipient of its Local Hero Heart of Green Award. Greg empowered his marketing class at Beachwood High School in Ohio to stage the Green Dream, the largest green products and services expo in Ohio.

The extraordinary class project raised $150,000 in 2008 and exceeded that mark in 2009 — all to create the Ultimate Green Classroom, a model classroom completely refurbished with sustainable, nontoxic materials, powered by the sun and open to the school and to the community. And he did it all while battling cancer.

Adamant that the Green Dream live on, he taught his class by Skype and made a courageous appearance at The Daily Green’s Heart of Green Awards that brought the audience to tears. (He’s doing great by the way, and is back leading his class.)

We learned about Greg from you, the readers of The Daily Green. We asked for nominations for the local hero award, and received 40 inspiring stories of real people making a real difference.

We’re ready to get inspired all over again.

With the Heart of Green Awards, we honor those people, organizations and companies that have taken the green message to the mainstream — to the “heart” of the American people. We honor those people who strike a chord with regular people. We honor those who help us all live a more earth-friendly lifestyle.

Who in your community deserves to be recognized? Is it the organizer of a local farmers’ market … or the local farmer herself? Maybe it’s the shopkeeper who refuses to sell suspect plastics … or the construction worker who donated his time to weatherize neighborhood homes. Is it the mayor who installed solar power panels on the town hall … or the watchdog who held the mayor accountable for a bad decision?

Whoever you think is deserving, we want your nominations. Tell us, and the rest of The Daily Green audience, why your nominee deserves to be recognized as a Local Hero with a Heart of Green. We’ll recognize many of the nominees by publishing your accounts of their good deeds on The Daily Green, and the winner will receive his or her award at the Heart of Green Awards ceremony this April in New York City.

Get inspired by Greg’s incredible acceptance speech, and then scroll down for the nomination guidelines.

Heart of Green — 2010 Local Hero Guidelines
- Keep your nomination succinct — about 250 words. Explain why your nominee deserves to be recognized for bringing the green message to your community. If we highlight your nominee, your writing will appear on the site, so make a succinct persuasive case to The Daily Green audience.
- Attach a quality photo of the nominee that The Daily Green has permission to publish.
- Include email and telephone contact information so we can reach both you and the nominee.
- Email nominations to TDG senior editor Dan Shapley. Write “Heart of Green nomination” and the nominee’s name in the subject line.
- State how you know or are affiliated with the nominee. Disclose any and all business interests.
- If you are nominating someone who has been previously nominated, you must submit a new nomination that adheres to the 2010 guidelines.
- Send nominations by Friday, March 5.
- Nominations may be published at the sole discretion of The Daily Green, and must adhere to our Community Guidelines and Terms of Use.
- Winners will be chosen at the sole discretion of The Daily Green.
More from The Daily Green
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc
January 15, 2010