The Envirolution Has Officially Been Launched

On Saturday April, 28th in New Haven Connecticut, The Envirolution held its inaugural conference at Yale University (see what the Yale Daily News had to say about The Envirolution). The event was part conference, part concert, part green expo and part picnic. With the sun shining down on the day, the event was a huge success not only for the Envirolution itself, but for the participants and attendees who surely all walked away with something positive from the event.

The days events included 3 extremely interesting panels on Green Building, Energy and Green Business. Panelists included representatives from Ceres, GreenOrder, and the Connecticut green Building councils just to name a few. Meanwhile, outside presenting their products and business structure were over 20 tables of green companies and organizations educating the flowing crowd. Check out the participants on our Conference Website

*We had about 20 tables set up ranging from solar cooking to organic cleaning supplies and green building materials to eco-tourism.

Another highlight of the Event was when our main man Ethan Roland (from AppleSeed Permaculture) did his permaculture presentation, showing a a small crowd how to transform grassy areas (much like your front lawn) into edible (and sustainable) forests.


*This was a sweet canvas painting my boy from Poughkeepsie Mike White made for the event. Thanks bud.


*Jigsaw opened the festivities with perfect mood setting music.

The event, all in all, was a fabulous success and we are extremely excited to continue to put on these sort of shindigs. There is definitely something to be said for that positive energy that comes about from an event such as this, and we feel privileged to be able to be a part of that.
To all of you that attended, volunteered, participated, spoke and played music THANK YOU SO MUCH, we couldn't have done it without you.

And for all of you on the west coast, get ready because the Reno Envirolution Experience is just around the corner and with this, our first event, under our belt, The Reno Experience will certainly only be bigger and better.

Lead It. Live It.

Here on The Envirolution website, we have a section called "Baller of the Week." This section is basically a way for us to give a select individual who has been "balling out" helping the environment, some much deserved props. This week, however, we have SIX BALLERS OF THE WEEK. Why six you may ask? Well because that's how many winners of the 2007 Goldman Prize there are.

These people represent what The Envirolution is all about--individuals stepping up and making a positive difference in their communities.

"The digital age might allow us to transcend geography, but real places -- places far and near, exotic and humble -- still matter. Just ask the six winners of the 2007 Goldman Prize, who risk their reputations, their livelihoods, and their lives to protect very particular pieces of turf. Whether they're fighting for a stand of big-leaf mahogany in the remote Peruvian Amazon, a family farm in Ireland, a stretch of boreal forest in Canada, or an incomparable fishing stream in Iceland, they're committed to the dirt beneath their feet, and their dedication has deep roots."

This year's six winners were announced in a ceremony in San Francisco on April 23:

Hammerskjoeld Simwinga of Zambia travels by car, bike, and foot throughout the wildlife-rich Luangwa Valley, helping his fellow residents develop economic alternatives to poaching.

Ts. Munkhbayar, a Mongolian herder, sold his livestock in order to campaign against destructive mining on the Onggi River.

Willie Corduff, an Irish farmer, was jailed for his opposition to a high-pressure gas pipeline on his family's land.

Orri Vigfússon of Iceland has coordinated huge buyouts of commercial fishing rights and brokered moratorium agreements with several North Atlantic countries to save the struggling North Atlantic salmon.

Sophia Rabliauskas of Canada has worked to protect the traditional territory of the Poplar River First Nation from logging and hydropower development.

Julio Cusurichi Palacios of Peru, who has fought for the rights of indigenous people since he was a teenager, helped establish a national forest reserve in the remote Peruvian Amazon.

I got this stuff straight from Grist.org

Lead It. Live It. And give credit where it is due.

Interra Launches Boston Community Change

Last November, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino proudly announced Boston Community Change, a collaboration between the Interra Project, a nonprofit organization working to serve communities everywhere, and Boston Main Streets. Every day, Boston Community Change cardholders are using their cards at participating neighborhood businesses to get cash rewards and generate donations for local nonprofits.

The Mission of Interra:

Empower a community based movement of citizen consumers by providing tools for a direct alignment between daily economic activities and our deepest human values.

Check out their website at: http://interraproject.org

Do you have an Ipod? Do you enjoy podcasts?

Yale University has a podcast called "Environment Yale" which you can subscribe to for free and you can listen when you are on the go. Yale Faculty provide research & commentary on various environmental issues. Just Type "Environment Yale" in the ITunes store search engine and click subscribe for free.

The NYC Master Plan: To Become The First Environmentally Sustainable 21st Century City

Oh yea, believe it or not, the Big Apple is soon to be the Big GREEN Apple. NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, announced yesterday (Earthday) the big plans to sustainify NYC. The plan, dubbed PLanNYC, includes:

• "Congestion pricing" ($8 a day charge for people who dirve their cars into manahattan below 86th street)
• An investment of $200 million a year from both the city and state to create a financing authroity tht would assure teh completon of major projects like a second avenue subway, and push for improved energy efficiency in buildings and for the replacement of energy guzzling power plants
• construction of platforms over railyards and highways to create land for housing
• Open 290 schoolyards as playgrounds
• Eliminate city taxes on energy-efficient hybrid vehicles
• Increase the number of bike paths
• Cultivate mussle to suck pollution out of the rivers

According to Thomas J. Lueck of the NY Times, "The plan is intended to foster steady population growth, with the city expected to gain about 1 million resident by 2030, and to put in place a host of environmentally sensetive measures that would reduce the green house gases is generates"

"Our economy is humming, our fiscal house is in order and our near-term horizons looks bright, " Mr. Bloomberg said. "If we don't act now, when?"

Click here to read the whole article

Looks like Mayor Bloomberg is ready to lead it. Hope he is also ready to live it...

Happy Earth Day Everyone. This is a sweet video that I found on youtube. It straight up gave me goosebumps. Very empowering stuff.


It has to be US. Lead It. Live It.

For Earth Day, pledge to live a one-planet lifestyle:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/666393111

Help stop the waste, pollution and degradation of our planet by living your life in a greener fashion. Change your personal habits to reduce your impact and encourage others to as well. Lead It. Live It.

The Envirolution STEPPED IT UP!!!

This past weekend, a group of us from the NYC and New Haven Envirolution Chapters participated in "The Sea of People", an event in NYC which was part of the Step It Up 2007- National Day of Action. The idea was to mobilize the largest possible demonstration of people asking congress to "Step it up" and cut carbon emission 80% by 2050. But rather than have everyone travel to DC for one large demonstration, step it up challenged people to get creative and organize local demonstrations (usually at local landmarks). The result was over 1500 separate but united voices sending a loud message to congress that it is time they step up their game.

Check out their website at http://stepitup2007.org/ for details and pictures of all the different and creative ways people across the country found to send the message to congress.

(Sidenote: Seriously, this is such a big win for the home team, USA. Because people all over the world are hating on us--rightfully so--about the environment. It's good that we, as a nation, finally came together to send a message not only to congress but also the world. A message that we Americans do care about the well being of our planet, for ourselves and for future generations and we do want to start taking this probelm seriously. The US is the most powerful nation in the world, so lets start acting like leaders.)

Anyway, so we went to this event and it was AWESOME. The event was part rally, part march...add some music....sprinkle a little empowerment and whablaaam.
It started out with a few speakers addressing and hyping the crowed including Bill McKibben (head organizer of Step It Up) himself and a handful of really awesome students representatives (they we seriously sooo dope). Of course, Bill took some time right before taking the stage to consult me for some last minute tips, as evidenced by the picture below.

(I'd just like to point out that although my shirt says "ALE" on the front, it says Lead It. Live It. on the back. But I realize that I dropped the ball by not having Envirolution on the front)


After that we proceeded to the main event: forming the sea of people. Mind you, we are all wearing blue, and so the idea was basically to walk up a few blocks and lock hands (thus forming a sea of people) along the street that represents the potential new water line if global warming continues and sea levels continue to rise.



It was great, there was a band leading the march up the streets to our positions.



And in true Lead It. Live It. fashion the Envirolution crew jumped right up to the front of the pack. Holding our banner high and proud, we (literally) led the march up the streets, making friends, and dancing the whole way.




Seriously, I can't even describe how sweet it was. Fortunately, our film crew, Clover Pictures, came with us and documented the whole thing. So be on the look out for the video of this Event. But for now, check out the slide show below, it'll give you an idea of what went down.

This guy had a great time.


Reping The Three Spheres

Check out this sweet slide show

LEAD IT. LIVE IT.

People always say that they want to change the world. But if you ask them how they are going to do it, they usually don't really know?

The Envirolution claims its going to change the world, but we know exactly how we are going to do it-- by getting people to think about and understand things in terms of the three spheres: social, environmental and financial.
By providing this clear, simple and extremely revealing framework, The Envirolution will effectively be planting the seeds of change that will slowly but surely begin to bloom all over the world.

Any thoughts?

Lead It. Live It.

These cats are 100% L E A D I T ! L I V E I T ! They've got 6 initiatives that keep the art and music scene environmentally aware and involved! Check em out!

Check this out....Badass Recycling Company

I went to a conference last weekend for the The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) at the Haas Business School in Berkeley, CA. The conference celebrated companies that have both financial and social goals integral to their purpose. http://socialvc.net/index.cfm?&stopRedirect=1. Envirolution should submit its plan next year for the competition.

I heard the CEO of a company called Recycle Bank http://www.recyclebank.com/ speak. They pay households for recycling with virtual online dollars. They developed a chip that weighs the amount of recycling and automatically credits an online account when a truck collects. The virtual money is redeemable at environmentally friendly retailers through their website which has an environmental awareness component. It is taking off even in lower income areas where there has traditionally been little recycling. I love this business...

This is the kind of solution that can have a big impact because it is both solving an enifficiency in the marketplace and getting more people involved in the movement.

Ohhh snap....The Governator drops it like its hot on CSPAN (you've probably never heard that sentence before, have you?)

Social Networking -- Envirolution Style

Here are some links to the most awesome Envirolution-minded social networking sites on the web. We absolutely must connect to peeps at all these companies to unite under a common banner to thrust forward the green wave that we are experiencing all around us.

Zaadz.com
"We’re in the process of building THE most inspired community of people in the world…social networking with a purpose, a community of seekers and conscious entrepreneurs circulating wisdom and inspiration and wealth and all that good stuff. We're passionate about inspiring and empowering people to bring their dreams to life, learning and growing and getting paid to do what they love, using their greatest gifts in the greatest service to the world. (And having fun in the process!)"

Urth.tv
"A social network for people who value higher consciousness, vibrant living, and a sustainable planet." Social media network for conscious media.

Care2Connect
Social networking site of "over 7 million members making a difference in the lives of people and the planet."

Fivelimes
"Be sustainable, live healthy, buy local. Connect with other people going green and living a healthy sustainable life."

Common Circle
"Ultimately it is the next generations that will have to bear the fruit of our action or inaction. When our grandchildren ask us what we were doing as the last old growth tree was cut, will we say that we did nothing? Will we say we did nothing when our President took away our civil rights? And what will we say we did when global warming was still preventable? As Martin Luther King said, "There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right." And that is precisely what Common Circle is all about -- we're here to help support the progressive movement. To connect, inspire, and together to facilitate social change."

2People.org
"How do you move a nation? Move two people."
"We're here to build the public mandate for real solutions to global warming. Through projects such as the Focus the Nation - Climate Dialogues and Climate Elections 2008, our goal is to close the gap between what's scientifically necessary and what's politically possible. If you're looking for ways to get involved, and people to connect with, you can find them here. We're a community of concerned citizens, helping each other find ideas and form teams, whether it's for taking political action, greening your lifestyle, or letting others know about what you're doing."

WorldCoolers
"WorldCoolers is an online grassroots initiative whose goal is to raise public awareness to climate change. We are working to spread the word, spark fruitful discussions and bring this critical issue to the attention of policymakers and the media. We are looking to bring the work of existing on-going campaigns to online communities and the general public. WorldCoolers believes that by tapping in to the power of the Internet we can make a difference both on the personal level and on the global one."

Ethical Network
"Like-minded individuals taking action on the issues that matter."
Aims to unite "environmentalists, intellectuals, activists and all those who feel dissatisfied with the unsustainable consumption-based culture that is gripping the planet and creating countless problems along the way [so] that together we will have the numbers and influence to actually do something about it, and improve upon the state of the world for ours and future generations to come."

Emerging Green Builders will be hosting a fashion show here in NYC on April 19th offering up the latest in sustainable threads!

"The runway show will feature a stunning display of the latest apparel and textile designs in organic or recycled fibers, and found materials by up and coming designers. The show is co-sponsored by Teknion, o2-NYC, and Green Drinks."

"What will we be wearing tomorrow? We present the beautiful future of sustainable style."

For more information check out the web site: http://www.projectearthday.com/

Top Tips to Stop Global Warming

Thanks Cheryl Benanti

GREEN DRINKS TOMORROW
WHAT: Every month people who work in the environmental field meet up for
a drink at networking events known as Green Drinks - its a chance to mix with
other like-minded people, share info and make friends. Many people have found employment, developed new ideas, made business connections and had moments of serendipity. It's a force for the good and its spreading around the world.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 10, 2007, from 6:00pm - 10pm

WHERE: Join us this month at: ~ Boucaurou Lounge ~ 64 East 1st Street
[between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave] New York, NY tel: 212 529 3262

HOW: Walk, cycle, bus, subway, pedicab, ozocar or taxi (ok if more than two passengers). When you come in just up to someone and say "are you green?", and you'll be made welcome.

WHO: Anyone working on environmental issues, studying them, thinking green, likes networking and being social.

WHY: Fun, contacts, alcohol, info, gossip, inspiration, business and pleasure.

NEW: "The 2 minute pitch" we asked a few folks to share what they are doing, in 2 minutes - meet Bradford Rand, Pamela Peeters, Tara Losoff, Carol Froehlich-Hull, and Peter Shapiro.

Green Drinks

Our good friend Kyla, Head of Arts Outreach, recently told us about this cool "new online museum of environmental art, advances creative efforts to improve our relationship with the natural world." So we were obviously intrigued.

Then when we read that their "goal is to inform, inspire and connect people through environmental art and encourage the creation of new work that serves our communities and ecosystems" we knew that they were straight Envirolution.



Now all we have to do is reach out to them and set something up with them, huh Kyla. Keep us posted and thanks for the lead.

Check them out: GreenMuseum.org

Lead it. Live it.

This is the front page of BP's Alternative Energy Page. I thought it might be interesting for us to read what they are promoting.
Alternative Energy

We live in an increasingly carbon-constrained world. A world that demands solutions to two pressing challenges: the security of energy supply and the environmental impact of energy use
Both these issues, along with advances in technology and the strong likelihood that carbon will shortly be assigned a market price, convince us that new markets for cleaner power will emerge in the future. BP aims to meet the demand for emissions-reducing technologies and products, creating mutual advantage for society and our shareholders.
Launching our Alternative Energy business
In November 2005, we announced our plans to invest $8 billion over 10 years in a single new business called BP Alternative Energy. This new business aims to lead the market in low carbon alternative power generated from the sun, wind, natural gas and hydrogen, as well as using our skilled trading teams to boost our wholesale marketing of cleaner electricity worldwide.
Over a decade the business seeks to grow five to tenfold, and we believe our actions will help reduce forecast greenhouse gas emissions by 24 million tonnes, the equivalent of making a city the size of Berlin emissions-free.
BP Alternative Energy has its roots in the work BP has carried out over the past decade, gaining experience in profitably running gas-fired power stations and a solar business, as well as building two wind farms and carrying out research and a large-scale pilot project in carbon dioxide capture and storage at In Salah in the Algerian Sahara.
We foresee a huge market for cleaner power in the future. About 40% of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels come from power generation, yet up to 40% of the power plants that the world is expected to need by 2020 have not yet been built. As pressure mounts for action on climate change, we believe national and regional governments and local utility companies will increasingly look to build plants that use alternative, low-carbon, technologies. By 2020 we estimate that the power sector will be nearly a $2 trillion business. Basing even a small part of this to alternative energy technologies would create a substantial global market opportunity.
Alternative energies also offer many countries a means of gaining greater security of energy supplies. They can build domestic solar and wind facilities as well as using carbon dioxide capture and storage to burn indigenous coal or other fossil fuels with only minimal GHG emissions.
Over the next three years, BP Alternative Energy plans to increase the sales of solar products threefold, start construction of two of the world’s first industrial-scale hydrogen power plants, build new gas-fired power co-generation capacity and develop a significant wind power business.

Discovery's New Channel: Planet Green

I am sure most have you have seen or at least heard of Discovery's new program, Planet Earth. Well due to the overwhelming response to this program, discovery is working on a new channel just for people who love to learn about our world. Check out the post on treehugger to find out more, but I can say that this is really exciting and I can't wait to make it my new favorite channel. Between this and Current TV what else will we need?

To all the environmentally-conscious hotties:

Wanted: Live-in Envirolutionist girlfriend, to share expenses, ideas, daily chores, planetary solutions and showers (to conserve water). Must be able to cook with home-grown and organic vegetables, hang laundry on clothes-line, and clean only with organic products. Prerequisites: passion for the outdoors, love of foreign travel, desire to help others, and enjoyment of stimulating discussions of global concerns.

Lead It. Live It.

Everybody needs to go out and get this weeks TIME Magazine! The cover speaks for itself: "THE GLOBAL WARMING SURVIVAL GUIDE: 51 Things You Can Do to Make a Difference"
This is a phenomenal issue because instead of hampering on the problems and all the scary consequences of inaction, the focus is on how Everybody can step u and do things to contribute to the solutions. (And since The Envirolution is all about solutions, we love to see this!) It's empowering because it gives you 51 ways in which you can individually curb your impact on the environment: "Can one person slow global warming? Actually, yes. You—along with scientists, businesses and governments—can create paths to cut carbon emissions. Here is our guide to some of the planet's best ideas:" This is what you can expect from the issue.

I believe this is a strong sign signaling a change in our society's approach to global warming. Over the last few years, there has been a so-called "debate" regarding global warming and the human contribution to the problem. Due to all the scientific data that has come out, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and the clear signs in the crazy weather we've seen, there really seems to be an overwhelming consensus about the reality of this problem and the possible irreversible and devastating consequences that may result if we don't act soon. The focus over this last year has mainly been on the problems and their negative effects. People are now more aware of this than ever and there seems to be a shift occurring in our resolve to combat the problem. Basically, people are ready for SOLUTIONS...and so is The Envirolution! People are ready to stop focusing on the negative and instead focus on how we can address this problem and make sure we minimize the damage to our precious planet and ensure a healthy biosphere for future generations. We're seeing businesses step up and voluntarily change certain business strategies to make the environment more of a priority. Businesses are also coming together and demanding that the government establish a national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (United States Climate Action Partnership). Local and regional governments are stepping up and implementing their own policies to address the climate crisis. Environmental Grassroots efforts are gaining influence and momentum like they haven't seen since the earlier movement in the '60's and '70's. We're seeing non-profits and for-profits working together to address certain environmental issues and make actual change occur. Green Building is the hottest trend in the construction industry and the demand for more environmentally friendly buildings and houses seems to be increasing at a rapid rate. There's an entire new market for eco-friendly products ranging from hemp shoes with recycled tire rubber bottoms to organic cotton t-shirts. Renewable Energies and Clean Tech companies are gaining steam and seeing funding in Silicon Valley that soon may rival the dot.com boom in the 90's. The Envirolution is upon us!! It's time for solutions! It's time for us to accept that our future lies in living a life much more in tune with our natural world and preserving this beautiful planet for all that depend on it for life and for all future generations!

It's time to LEAD IT and LIVE IT!!

Gamboa

P.S. You can also see the articles from the mag at www.time.com. Yessss!

HUGE NEWS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!! Today the Supreme Court came down with an EXTREMELY Important ruling stating that carbon dioxide must now be recognized as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act and that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should treat it as such! This is major news because the EPA has been avoiding the issue of regulating CO2 emissions (which many believe to be the leading cause of global warming) because it has not been recognized under this act. The case specifics state:
"The case of Massachusetts v. EPA put three questions before the court. The first is whether states have the right to sue the EPA over this issue -- whether they have "standing." The court said: yes. The second was whether carbon dioxide fits the Clean Air Act definition of an air pollutant, thus giving the EPA the right to regulate it. The court said: yes. The third was whether, given that right, the EPA has to regulate it. On that question, SCOTUS strongly urged the EPA to reconsider its refusal to address the issue, and gave it a list of good reasons to do so."--Grist

This is such inspiring and hopeful news, but now we need the EPA to act upon this new power to regulate CO2 emissions. This will ultimately determine what sort of positive impact on the environment this ruling has. We need to step up as citizens of this country and show we care and demand that the EPA does so. You can use your influence by going to the link below and signing the petition to the EPA's Administrator. It's easy, everyone can do it, and it will take you less than a minute! LEAD IT LIVE IT!!
http://www.environmental-action.org/gw.asp?id=2224&id4=ES
Please also pass this information on to your friends and family so that they can voice their opinion as well!

Step It Up Campaign 2007 is April 14th.
Here is a little video guide for anyone thinking of throwing their own Step It Up event. There are events in all 50 States and this will be considered the most widespread activist event in history. Look for one near you and join the movement. This is a very cool idea and I hope things like this become more prevalent as we understand how to utilize all the new "Earth Flattening" technology.
Step it Up 2007

With Earth Day right around the corner, we should all think of ways to lessen our individual efforts. Treehugger.com is constantly running articles of this nature. Below is just one link to a greening your life guide.
How to Green Your Electricity

What's new in the world of Green Business? Well, you can always find out by going to www.GreenBiz.com. This site puts together great articles from around the globe that keep you up to date on the latest news on the Green-Environmental world and business. I suggest signing up for their weekly updates, which are sent to your email once a week and do a great job at highlighting what's going on. It's amazing to see how big of a market green business has become and how much it continues to grow. The Green Wave is for real and it's the future! Prepare yourself by gaining knowledge on this ever-important movement.
Below are some articles from last weeks update:

Fortune Magazine Names Business World's Green Giants
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34754
In its first-ever "green" issue, Fortune profiles Honda, Continental
Airlines, Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard and other companies leading the
way on sustainability.

'Base of the Pyramid' Holds Key to $5 Trillion Market
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34759
Four billion people who live in relative poverty represent a $5 trillion
market, and one uniquely ripe for environmentally friendly technologies,
a new report finds.

Harnessing the Market To Protect Ecosystems
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34743
Governments and NGOs are working to launch innovative green businesses
that manufacture hybrid electric buses in Brazil or grow organic roses
in China, while at the same time growing economies and encouraging
sustainable development.

$4 Trillion Backs Latest Call for Action on Climate Change
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34740
A coalition of investors and businesses managing more than $4 trillion
has joined the call to urge the federal government to set strong,
mandatory goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Advanced Technology Can Give Coal a Future
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=34738
A new study from MIT has found that carbon sequestration technologies
can enable future coal-powered energy sources to decrease the threat of
climate change.

Lead It. Live It.