my friday night plans...

Looking forward to watching this 2006 eco-thriller, "The Last Winter," from director Larry Fessenden. Anyone seen it? 

autumn anticipation

Fall is almost here!  September 22 marks the autumnal equinox, and I plan on celebrating accordingly with my first season slice of pumpkin pie.

A return to posting post-LSAT coming soon, I promise.

can you hear me now? good.

In honor of this coming Labor Day, exercise some of those American rights by signing this petition from Credo Action, a green phone company and activist network, to have Verizon Wireless withdraw its support for a "pro-coal, anti-environment" rally co-sponsored by the dastardly dirty coal company, Massey Energy.  This so-called Friends of America rally is scheduled for Monday, September 7th, at a former surface mine in West Virginia. The event's conservative political agenda is buried underneath an ambiguous website; at first glance, the only information one can glean from its amateur red, white, and blue design is that it is a free event, no alcohol allowed, and will be headlined by Fox favorite radio host Sean Hannity and entertainers Ted Nugent and Hank Williams, Jr.  Only after probing around did I discover a link under "Register" that belies the rally's true intentions: "If you would like to sign a petition against the Waxman-Markey climate bill..."  If that is not enough to make you shake in your boots, watch this 18 second YouTube introduction from Massey Energy CEO, Don Blankenship.  He begins, blah blah, and then, hold on to your Stetson, "...we're also going to learn how environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your jobs." 

Massey Energy is behind some of the most heinous violations of the Clean Water Act to date.

In 2000, a Massey Energy subsidiary company based in Martin County, Kentucky, accidentally released 306 million gallons of coal slurry waste into two mountain streams, a $50 million dollar disaster that wreaked havoc on the aquatic wildlife and contaminated the water supply for local residents.  The EPA has named the spill the worst ever environmental catastrophe to hit the southeastern United States.  Also, their practice of mountaintop removal, a destructive method of coal mining that involves blowing up mountain tops, has buried rivers and streams under rock debris  and caused epic eco-problems in the Mississippi region in terms of polluted water and flooding, and destruction to the biodiversity of the Appalachian Mountains [see image above] in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

I hope this has outraged you as much as it has me, and, if you are a Verizon customer you have an added impetus to sign this.  Takes less time than a text.

shout out from southside!

Southside CSA gave a "sparkly" shout out to my latest One-Earth article on their blog (see link to original story below). So show some support and get commenting!

southside csa: supporting local farmers through community shared agriculture

Check it out-- I just finished an article for One-Earth.com about Southside CSA, the latest CSA to open in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint area of Brooklyn. I explain how the CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) system works, along with some interesting things specific to Southside like, for example, as part of their belief in fresh food for all, leftover veggies and fruits are distributed to soup kitchens around Brooklyn. Sound good? You bet your beets.

nick jr: trying too hard or not trying the right way?

Ever since I began babysitting, I've been watching a lot of Noggin (the educational Nick Jr), and I don't know how I feel about the innundation of the subtle and not-so-subtle green tips for kids. Commercials for a new Nickelodeon project, The Big Green Help, run frequently. The ads are cute, featuring smiling, chubby-cheeked children enjoying eco-friendly activities like making new things out of their old jeans or planting in the backyard. While some of it can be over the top and/or out of touch with the target audience [for example, today's online suggestion is "Use paper products like napkins and paper towels made from recycled paper instead of right from trees." Sure that's a helpful, if not already evident, tip for adults who go grocery shopping and are in control of what they buy, but I think that's a little tough to ask of toddlers. Something younger ones might understand more readily could be using a towel to clean up messes.] Despite the little things, I still laud their efforts to get kids thinking about the environment at an earlier age.

However, I'm rethinking Nick's green makeover as I watch an episode of Max & Ruby with the twins (see Wellies post below). For the those uninstructed in the hottest 3-and-under television shows, Max is a mischievous little boy bunny looked after by Ruby, his older sister who is also a bunny. During a celebration of Max's birthday, while Max is excitedly begins tearing open his present, Ruby chides something to the effect of don't tear the wrapping paper, we can use it for a thank you card. While I think that's a pretty cool idea, I'm 21 years old and have gotten all of the animalistic urges to obliterate the packaging on my presents out of my system. That subtle green hint, which would probably be lost on the younger half of the show's preschool viewers and preoccupied parents anyway, just doesn't seem fair for kids. The point is to make helping the environment fun too, right? And if Nick wants to incorporate such suggestions even into their programming, why not make them count. I much would have prefered to see a suggestion for something to do with the wrapping after it's been ripped to shreds. Here's an easy one, colorful recycled confetti!

sevens good for your butt AND the environment?

Very excited for my first ever Nau purchase, a mid-weight merino jacket for brisk Fall runs. Nau is an eco-friendly clothier geared towards outfitting for the outdoors. All of their wool is Zque certified, which means that sheep are shorn in a way that is both environmentally and animal-y sustainable [Nau upholds certification standards through "independent audits" to verify "high standards of animal welfare, environmental health, and social values."]

But the big question is, why is the Nau model above wearing Seven For All Mankind jeans? Could it be that my favorite designer jeans are green? If so, I just moved up on a notch the karma scale. Stay tuned for the results of some further investigating...