I recently came across an amazing article in the UK Guardian that discussed the very big environmental goals of a very tiny village in Japan. The village, known as Kamikatsu, has a population of a little over 2,000 residents, but all of them are involved in Japan’s latest mission to have a zero waste environment by the year 2020.
In 2008, the Japanese government created “Japan’s New Action Plan for Accelerating the Establishment of Sound Material-Cycle Societies Internationally through the 3Rs.” In shorter terms, it was called “Japan’s Plan for Zero Waste.” Under this plan the residents would have to follow the 3Rs: reducing, reusing and recycling every single household waste. And that does mean everything, including food, cans, cups, containers, phones and more. Oh, and it had to be done by the year 2020.
The first city to execute the plan would be Kamkatsu. I think that this is an absolutely amazing idea, and I would love to see cities and entire states in the U.S. following these zero waste policies. It only takes a small village to make an epic statement! See the pictures attached to this article to find out all the different ways this Village is pursuing its no-waste goals. Go to http://3bl.me/ch2hvt to comment on this article.
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Montreal-based non-profit gets together with indie rock bands to raise money for charities.
If you’re a fan of indie rock music, and you care about making a conscious difference in the world, then you should check out the Yellow Bird Project. I recently came across the website for this non-profit initiative, and after reading about why it was created and which bands were involved, it immediately became one of my favorite organizations. Oh, and the t-shirts are super creative!
The Yellow Bird Project was created by friends Matt Stotland and Casey Cohen, both who had a passion for music and a desire to turn that passion into something inspirational and quirky. They thought it would be great to get together with the bands, design t-shirts together and then sell the t-shirts to raise money for charities. Matt was good at computers, and Casey was a super salesman, so with their forces combined they started the project in 2006.
Here’s a video that shows how and why the whole project started:
It wasn’t easy to get connected with some of the coolest indie bands around since Matt and Casey didn’t actually know any, but luck changed for the duo when artist Devendra Banhart (known for his “freak-folk” music) decided to contribute a t-shirt design. The proceeds for his t-shirt would go to The Teenage Cancer Trust, a UK organization dedicated to helping teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Other awesome indie bands soon hopped on the Yellow Bird bandwagon once they realized this charitable and artistic initiative.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Bloc Party
The English band designed this shirt to support the Bread & Roses Community Fund, a foundation whose mission is to support social justice by raising money for health care, civil and human rights, a clean environment and peace.
The Canadian indie-rock band designed this t-shirt to help MusicCounts, a music charity organization that provides music education to schools across Canada.
The band designed this cool t-shirt to help support the Nature Conservancy, an organization dedicated to protecting and conserving some of the most ecologically important lands and waters in the world.
These are just four of the indie rock bands that support the Yellow Bird Project. One band that supports the recycling efforts of Greenopolis is Wolf Parade. This band from Montreal, Quebec designed a t-shirt that raises money for Glass Casters Union, a non-profit organization that creates recycled glass ornaments with other indie bands. The profit made from selling the ornaments helps aid homeless and low-income people in the indie band’s local community.
Now do you see why this organization is so unquestionably cool? It’s all about great t-shirts, great causes and an even greater connection through music. I hope that the Yellow Bird Project continues to get new indie bands to support them to keep music and the planet alive!
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
Susan Saint James, actress and activist shares some of her recycling and conservation tips with Melissa McGinnis and GreenopolisTV. Known for TV roles like Kate and Allie, Susan has also been known to being a bit “green”. She says she has been carrying a re-usable tote around since she named her children Sunshine and Harmony over 30 years ago. Susan hopes to inspire another generation to do the “right thing” by sharing her tips…Thanks Susan!
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
Melissa McGinnis and Greenopolis TV learn about the Plastic Pollution Coalition from one if it’s founder’s Daniella Russo. We learn from Daniella that the mission of Plastic Pollution Coalition is to create a global community and ignite a social movement to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts worldwide. Plastic Pollution Coalition also provides a platform for strategic planning and coherent communications; increases awareness and understanding of the problem and sustainable solutions; and empowers action to eliminate the negative impacts of plastics on the environment, wildlife, marine life, and human health. Take their on-line (S.U.P.E.R) HERO PLEDGE today!
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
Wide-winged and long-lived, albatrosses are rarely seen on land, preferring to stay out on the ocean except to mate and raise their young.
Melissa McGinnis and Greenopolis TV visit the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and get a close up look at the terrible plight of the Albatross species due to plastics being mistaken for food. We learned from one of the aquarium’s directors, Alison Barratt that Albatrosses fly hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles in search of food for their chicks. They look for squid and fish eggs floating on the surface of the water. Unfortunately, plastic floats, and Laysan albatross are particularly attracted to it. They eat it, mistaking if for food, then they fly back to the nest and feed bottle caps, lighters, fishing lures and other pieces of plastic to their young. The chicks starve to death, with stomachs full of plastic. In fact 40% of the Laysan Albatross chicks born each year die from eating plastic…
How can we help ?
Tips from the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Limit your use of disposable plastics, like plastic bags and water bottles.
Carry your own reusable shopping bag and/or water bottle.
Look for products made from recycled materials that have little or no packaging, or packaging that is recyclable.
Try to avoid Styrofoam products—bring your own mug to the coffee shop, and a container for leftovers when you eat out.
Know which plastics can be recycled in your city and recycle!
Make sure all non-recyclable plastics are securely disposed of.
Pick up trash on the street and put it in a trash can.
If you can make it to the aquarium be sure to meet “Makana”. Makana is a Laysan albatross from the Northwestern Hawaiian Island of Midway. She came to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2006, after she injured her wing and was unable to survive in the wild. Makana appears daily in a presentation that helps visitors learn about the threats that albatrosses and other seabirds face from plastics pollution.She is a beautiful inspiring creature, one that we should all work to protect
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
It’s that time of year again. The time where we all set intentions to do “more” or “less” of something in the new year. One of my new year’s intention is to do more yoga for 2010. Yoga has been a great thing for me. It quiets my mind, exercises both my body and my mind and helps me build inner strength. With any and all activities I look for ways to think about conserving and re-using per that activity and yoga is no exception. Greenopolis TV and I revisit my talk with Waylon Lewis, Yogi and Founder of Elephant journal on ways to think about conserving resources and reusing when it comes to practicing yoga. Some great tips from Waylon are:
Walk to your yoga studio or practice at home! Waylon really wants everyone to know that a “fancy” studio that you have to drive to is no more beneficial than a quiet practice by yourself or a walk to your “local” joint. He suggest walking more and driving less. (I’m not sure if Waylon drives at all, he rode is bike to meet me from North Hollywood to Venice Beach, taking the 405 Freeway!) Walking and riding your bike also encourages community engagement as well as the obvious, cuts down on emissions and air pollution.
Choose your mat wisely – Waylon suggests that the mat can be eco-conscious and in fact you don’t really even need a mat at all. Yes, I had a nice no PVC mat because I had just learned that Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated as PVC, is the third most widely used thermoplastic polymer in the world. It is commonly made softer with the addition of plasticizers, the most widely-used being phthalates. In this form, PVC is used in thousands of different products, from yoga mats, to clothing and upholstery, to children’s toys. Unfortunately, there are numerous health risks associated with the use of PVC, most of which we have had to find out the hard way. It is commonly believed that harmful toxins, known as dioxins, are a byproduct of the manufacturing of many PVC products. Dioxins are a global health threat because they persist in the environment and can travel long distances. Even at very low levels, near those to which the general population is exposed, dioxins have been linked to immune system suppression, reproductive disorders, a variety of cancers, and endometriosis. Or Waylon suggest no mat! – how about a towel that you already have, or a nice thick blanket. I found these “yoga paws” on-line – a great alternative to the yoga mat …check them out.
Yoga Lifestyle – Waylon suggest that yoga and a yogi life style is one of awareness. He believes that practicing yoga will help with growing your awareness and it is important to think about some lifestyle choices now that you are a “yogi”. Clothing for yoga can just be a loose comfy item you already have in your closet, no need for the “sporty” brand new outfit. But if you do purchase look for “organically grown cotton” outfits. Carry a re-usable tote to and from yoga and think about your diet as one from organically grown foods. Be sure to recycle and again walk to your class, grocery stores and errands in your town so you can begin to engage in your community, focusing on local.
These tips from Waylon are a holistic approach to a “conserving conscience” when applied to yoga – or any activity – thanks Waylon!
For more information on Waylon please check out his website
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
Melissa McGinnis and GreenopolisTV encourage surfers to “Catch the Wave” and recycle their surfboards. If your surfboard breaks, if you are moving on to another one or you just don’t use it anymore you can now recycle it. It’s important to keep the bulky polyurethane boards out of landfills so look for a recycling surfboard drop off in your neighborhood. In San Diego for example the Miramar Recycling Center will take your broken boards for free. A lot of surf shops are drop off points for broken board collection and some life guard stations are also taking in your retired board. If the boards in good shape they are often being donated to the boys and girls club for re-use! If being recycled the foam from the boards are used as filler in asphalt, concrete for roads and light-weight fireproof roof tiles. If purchasing a board look for those made from recycled content which are currently on the market with 60% recycled content in them, with the goal being 75 – 80 recycled content. This creates a huge shift in conserving resources during the manufacturing process, which today produces around 750,000 boards a year. “Catch the Wave” and RECYCLE!
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
Count down the top EASY ways to conserve in 2010 with Melissa McGinnis and GreenopolisTV! There are now 6.8 billion of us and we are connected like never before. The human population continues to expand by more than 200,000 people every day. The latest UN projections have the global population reaching 9.2 billion by the middle of this century. Since we are all in it together lets make this year a new beginning for conserving and reusing….
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
What a blast 2009 was. Traveling and meeting such fascinating and wonderful people. And such breakthroughs! Natural gas from landfills to run garbage trucks, solar power and green building breaking through to mainstream and learning about ocean pollution Let’s make a new year’s resolution together to recycle more and waste less. Let’s help with ocean pollution by keeping our recyclables out of them! Let’s enjoy 2010 together knowing we all can make a difference. Thanks to all we met along the way and cheers to their stories, jobs and efforts in making ’09 the year for GREEN to SHINE.
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
But who cares what history says! This is our time, our Festivus! What do we want it to be? Festivus is one holiday you really can make up your self, unless you are Seindfeldian Orthodox. Then you are stuck with the Festivus Pole, The Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Strength of “traditional” Festivus celebration.
But whether you are an Orthodox Zealot or a Festivus Heretic, you can green your Festivus celebration, even before you are sprung from jail for disorderly conduct. Once again the Greenopolis staff has done hours of exhaustive research, consisting mainly of researching a large keg of beer until we exhausted it. We also did a double blind study, asking two blind guys what they thought about Festivus. We came up with Green tips for both the Orthodox and the Heretical Festivus revelers among us.
Orthodox Practice
The Festivus Gift Creed is to give something you don’t want, to someone else that doesn’t want it either. This is perfect for reusing the useless items in your life, like that day-glow wide tie, electric dog polisher, or beautiful black velvet Elvis–as-Santa painting. They transform from being useless schlock in your home into useless schlock in someone else’s home until the next Festivus, and the one after that, ad infinitum! A gift that keeps on giving.
The Festivus Pole is a study in conservation itself. One aluminum pole, undecorated, is a simple statement of reducing resources. Make sure your Festivus pole is made from recycled aluminum-you can buy one from Festivus Poles or make your own Festivus pole from recycled beer cans- the same way these Buddhist monks made their temple from recycled beer bottles.
Airing of Grievances: The core of Festivus tradition. Instead of complaining about all those things your friends and family have done that you can’t change, why not complain about slights to the planet? “Why didn’t you turn the compost? “You could have recycled that!” “How many polar bears did you kill by leaving the lights on?” I’m sick and tired of you throwing everything in the landfill!” You get the idea.
Feats of Strength: Traditionally conducted until someone wrestles the head of the household to the ground, there are many “green” ways to observe this sacred ritual. How many compost piles can you turn at once without spilling any? What’s the longest trek you can take to recycle a single aluminum can? How about recycling all the stuff left on Mt. Everest? Let your imagination run wild.
Unorthodox Heretical Practices
Some new reuse/recycling/conservation traditions for Festivus:
Exchanging of the Compost. Neighbors swap biodegradable pots/bags/wagons of compost, tied tightly and wrapped in brown paper.
Reuse the Festivus Pole. The rest of the year it can serve as a flagpole, yard ornament, rolling pin, dance prop or marital aid.
Use organic olive oil and a recycled sheet of plastic for naked oil wrestling contests. This has a hint of the oil theme of Hanukkah woven into it, along with the Festivus Feats of Strength theme. And you can lick the oil off afterward- see our piece on edible clothing!
Midwinter Sod Roof Contest. Go out and shovel the roof and lay sod until all the winter white is preplaced with Green. Artificial turf from recycled or bioplastics is ok. Green paint is not.
Capture your personal methane. Holiday food can produce a lot of gas-methane to us braniacs. Festivus revelers would stick tubing in the appropriate places (you can look it up) to capture that methane, and use it to heat the home, cook holiday meals or light up the neighborhood.
Serve Snails as appetizers. Not from France, but your own garden varieties. They are Free Range, organic locally produced, high in protein, easy to outrun and animal rights advocates don’t care about them because they are not cute.
Save Holiday Urine. There’s always a lot of beer drinking during the holidays, and researchers have been creating bioplastics from urine, so Festivus celebrations could include collecting the urine and making bioplastics from it. At least pee outdoors or save it in buckets and use for watering outdoors plants—saves water and recycles a resource rather than peeing it away.
Cast Iron Roadkill Cooking Contest. See how many new holiday dishes from leftovers or roadkill you can cook in cast iron. My favorite is yesterday’s oatmeal with snails.
Have a Happy Festivus from the Rest of Us at Greenopolus!
Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.
Let’s make a new year’s resolution together to recycle more and waste less. Let’s help with ocean pollution by keeping our recyclables out of them! Let’s enjoy 2010 together knowing we all can make a difference. Thanks to all we met along the way and cheers to their stories, jobs and efforts in making ’09 the year for GREEN to SHINE.
