FRESH MULLET circa 1972 - a John Witzig photograph
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
THE SKY IS PINK...
THE SKY IS PINK by Josh Fox and the GASLAND Team from JFOX on Vimeo.
An emergency short film from Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director of GASLAND addressing the urgent crisis of drilling and fracking in New York state.
Go to NYAgainstfracking.org for more info and to get involved.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Economics of Happiness Conference 2013
The Economics of Happiness - Official Trailer from The Economics of Happiness on Vimeo.
15-17 March 2013 Byron Bay www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Plastic Pioneer - Mike Biddle...
The Big SHFT: Mike Biddle, Plastics Pioneer from SHFT on Vimeo.
If there was a hall of fame for sustainable business, Dr. Mike Biddle would be one its first inductees. Twenty years ago, the trailblazing plastics engineer launched MBA Polymers in his garage. He was determined to prove that complex polymers from consumer plastics could be recycled into useful raw materials. Mike developed a patented series of techniques for separating and refining plastic waste to produce quality materials for reuse in industry. His innovative recycling process diverts plastic waste from landfills and the ocean while negating the need for new oil-based plastics. Today, MBA Polymers is a global enterprise, with large-scale industrial facilities in the US, Europe and Asia. As one of the leading figures in the recycling revolution, Mike was recently honored with the 2012 Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development, a prestigious prize recognizing him "for combining deep technical expertise and entrepreneurial brilliance with a drive to close the loop." For Mike, it's all about closing the loop on the waste cycle. "I consider myself an environmentalist," he says. "I hate to see plastics wasted. I hate to see any natural resource – even human time – wasted."Monday, February 18, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, February 11, 2013
Movement Entrepreneurs...
Jeremy Heimans (@jeremyheimans) is co-founder and CEO of Purpose.com, the world's leading incubator for social movements and new experiments in mass digital participation. Jeremy has been building movements since he was a precocious little brat in his native Australia, running media campaigns and lobbying politicians from the age of eight on issues like environmental degradation and nuclear proliferation.
His voice has since broken but those global problems persist, so Jeremy co-founded Avaaz.org, the world's largest online political movement with more than 15 million members, and GetUp.org, the Australian political movement with more members than all Australia's political parties combined.
Jeremy now leads the team at Purpose, which has built movements to fight cancer with LIVESTRONG, worked with Jamie Oliver on a national effort to transform our food culture, and launched AllOut.org, a new global movement for LGBT people and their straight friends and family.
The World Economic Forum at Davos has named Jeremy a Young Global Leader and in 2011 he was awarded the Ford Foundation's 75th Anniversary Visionary Award. In 2012, Fast Company named him one of the Most Creative People in Business. Jeremy's career began with strategy consultants McKinsey and Company. He is a graduate of Harvard University and University of Sydney, and is a citizen of Australia and the Netherlands.
His voice has since broken but those global problems persist, so Jeremy co-founded Avaaz.org, the world's largest online political movement with more than 15 million members, and GetUp.org, the Australian political movement with more members than all Australia's political parties combined.
Jeremy now leads the team at Purpose, which has built movements to fight cancer with LIVESTRONG, worked with Jamie Oliver on a national effort to transform our food culture, and launched AllOut.org, a new global movement for LGBT people and their straight friends and family.
The World Economic Forum at Davos has named Jeremy a Young Global Leader and in 2011 he was awarded the Ford Foundation's 75th Anniversary Visionary Award. In 2012, Fast Company named him one of the Most Creative People in Business. Jeremy's career began with strategy consultants McKinsey and Company. He is a graduate of Harvard University and University of Sydney, and is a citizen of Australia and the Netherlands.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Concord, Mass. Becomes First City in U.S. to Ban Plastic Water Bottles!
It has taken a few years for the ban to take effect, but as of January 1st 2013, Concord became among the first U.S. communities to ban single-serving plastic water bottles.
Water bottles might seem like a small thing, but according to Ban the Bottle:
"It takes 17 million barrels of oil per year to make all the plastic water bottles used in the U.S. alone. That's enough oil to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year." Their website also states: "In 2007, Americans consumed over 50 billion single serve bottles of water. With a recycling rate of only 23%, over 38 billion bottles end up in landfills."
And it's not like bottled water is a good deal for your wallet either:
"The recommended eight glasses of water a day, at U.S. tap rates equals about $.49 per year; that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400."
The ban isn't exactly 1920s' prohibition, though. Stores will only be fined up to $50 for violating the ban and there an exemption for emergencies. So no government agents busting doors and trying to find the hidden stash of water bottles. But as a way to raise awareness and because most people follow the rules, it should be very effective and significantly reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles in circulation in the area (kind of like how even small 5-cent taxes on disposable plastic bags reduce their use tremendously).
Google Maps/Screen capture
Hopefully this is the beginning of a larger movement that will return bottled water to what it should have stayed: An emergency thing, when you really need water but can't get it any other way. It's ridiculous that it has become an everyday thing for so many people that have access to perfectly fine water for a fraction of the price from their tap (and there are so many great filtering systems out there for those who want to make extra sure -- though it's not like bottled water can't be contaminated either).
Our colleagues at MNN have more on this story: With new bylaw, Concord opens the floodgates for bottled water bans.
Patagonia - Our Common Waters
Monday, February 4, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
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