[Creative Commons photo by Mikko Itälahti]
The Maryland Department of the Environment press release said:
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When you’re looking to green your lifestyle, it helps to learn from the experiences of others rather than trying to reinvent the wheel yourself. That’s why, from time to time, I like to highlight the stories of various “eco-heroes” across the country.
In my last feature — “Going Green? Learn from these Pros” — some of the stars were folks like Mike Turner, who retrofitted an old Honda Civic for a super imrovement in mileage, and Elizabeth Rogers, creator of a new Website (Shift Your Habit) that demonstrates the money-saving power of eco-friendly habits. This time, I’ve got some new green success stories to share:
[Creative Commons photo by Steve Rhodes]
Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media who is responsible for President Obama’s transition website, Change.gov, accepted the ideas on behalf of the Presidential Transition Team. There were over 8,000 ideas and 600,000 votes, and over 175,000 people participated! They’re going to pair up each winning idea with a nonprofit to help work toward making these things that folks care care about into policy. Here are the ten winning ideas:
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[Creative Commons photo via Eat the View]
[Image Credit: Eat the View on Flickr with a Creative Commons license]
Not all carbon offset programs are created equal, and many well-intentioned green types can feel cheated when they discover the program they’ve chosen doesn’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions as advertised. But help is now here in the form of a new, scientifically verified list of carbon offset providers.
Developed by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Defense Fund, the Carbon Offset Project List is being billed as a “first-of-its-kind online resource that will help businesses and consumers identify and purchase carbon offsets that represent real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”
They might not garner as many headlines as big-name corporations when they go green, but many churches across the U.S. are tackling environmental challenges as a way to honor God’s creation.
Among those leading the way are groups like the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC), whose Eco-Justice Working Group includes participants of every denomination from African Methodist Episcopal to Greek Orthodox and Mennonite. The NCC’s Washington, D.C.-based Eco-Justice Program also provides a wealth of resources to help churches and church-goers take environmental action.
Many of those actions are highlighted in the Eco-Justice Program’s guide to “Bottom Line Ministries that Matter: Congregational Stewardship with Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy Technologies.” Among the success stories held up as examples in the report:
Hats off — or would “shoes off” be more appropriate? — to all the kids across the U.S. who helped collect more than 10,000 used sneakers for recycling, setting a Guinness World Record at the same time.
National Geographic Kids magazine launched the shoe collection effort after publishing a special green issue last fall, with actress Cameron Diaz serving as a guest editor and campaign kickoff donor of two pairs of old shoes. Five members of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team also contributed used footwear for the cause.
Two groups of Pensacola kids are off to Washington, D.C., after taking top honors in the National Energy Education Development Program (NEED). Among the achievements that helped get them there: s’mores baked in a solar oven and Blackout Wednesdays in which students turned off classroom lights and relied on sunlight instead.
The Suter Energy Savers, a team of fourth-graders at Suter Elementary School, won at the elementary level for their work on 28 conservation projects in all. Their efforts included collecting $200 worth of recyclables, distributing flyers at area coffee shops urging customers to switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs and making s’mores in a solar oven.
EcoLocalizer
Think globally, act locally has been a mantra for the environmental movement for decades. At EcoLocalizer, you can find local news and information about citizens, organizations and businesses that are taking positive green steps forward in their neighborhoods and communities.
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