The Earth Needs You!

A very important message about this Saturday - GLOBAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION - from the Climate Crisis Coalition...

On Saturday, December 6, 2008, concerned citizens around the world will be participating in the fourth annual Global Day of Climate Action. This important day will be midway through the annual UN climate conference, taking place this year in Poznan, Poland. The Climate Crisis Coalition's international ally, The Global Climate Campaign, is synchronizing demonstrations around the world in as many places as possible - to call on world leaders to take urgent action on climate change. As in previous years, CCC is calling on friends and allies to partake in any way they can.

This year, actions in the U.S. are particularly pertinent because the U.N. conference is going to set the parameters for the all-important post-Kyoto treaty to be signed in December, 2009 in Copenhagen. And with the hoped-for dawning of a new era in Washington, this will represent a last chance for the U.S. to clearly reverse its obstructionist role and set the tone so that a significant, strong and binding treaty can be negotiated. The perils our planet faces demand no less.

Visit the online network where people can find out about events taking place across the country and groups and individuals can register new events. We only have three weeks to put this together, but with our all-consuming elections behind us, and growing number of citizens eager to keep the President-elect Obama and the new Congress focused on the climate crisis, CCC is convinced that it is not too late for significant actions to take place across the U.S. on or around December 6th. Many are all ready in the works.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Rallies, teach-ins, forums, vigils, movie showings and other gatherings of all types are encouraged. CCC will publicize and report on these actions through postings at the Climate Action: 12/6/08 site.

The Issues

Binding and enforceable climate legislation in the U.S within the first 100 days of the new Congress that will begin to sharply curtail greenhouse-gas emissions. The U.S. must also exert leadership toward reaching a similarly effective post-Kyoto treaty.

Reduced levels of atmospheric CO2. Our allies at 350.org, inspired by climate scientist James Hansen and author Bill McKibben, are making a compelling case for a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, not just to level off atmospheric concentrations that are already far to high, but to reduce them to a level where the earth and life as we know it has a fighting chance. Top climate scientists have come up with the number of 350 parts per million: that must be our goal and our rallying cry.

100% carbon-free electricity within 10 years. Al Gore has issued a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. This is a goal that must be embraced by all.

Pricing carbon pollution will create powerful incentives for our economy to rely upon energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, both of which will reduce emissions, create green jobs and promote economic and social equity. This involves gradually-increasing carbon taxes on the use of coal, oil and gas, with revenues used to reduce other taxes or distributed directly to individuals on an equal basis. Any of this revenue directed toward developing green energy must be for truly renewable sources - excluding nuclear power and 'clean' coal.

CCC and its allies are planning a major petitioning campaign to Congress and the Obama Administration requesting that equitable carbon pricing be an essential component of a new comprehensive climate bill that needs to be enacted in the first 100 days of the 111th Congress. The website where groups and individuals can support this effort, sign the petition, and send letters to Washington will be launched on November 20th!

We now have remarkable opportunities at a unique juncture in our history. Any help that you can offer would be most appreciated. Please let the Climate Crisis Coalition know by return email if you can assist with the December 6th Global Day of Action or with our Carbon Pricing Initiative. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BIG DAY

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, My True Love Sent to Me...

Twelve was to green my cellphone!

1. Unplug your charger when it's not being used. It draws energy from the outlet even when not plugged into your phone.
2. Minimize the backlight. Save battery time by setting the backlight to the lowest setting.
3. Use GPS navigation from your phone if you are set up for that. It'll save you driving time and gas.
4. Don't buy a new phone until you need it, and recycle your old phone.
5. Use your phone's alarm clock and get rid of your traditional one. That's one less appliance. Saves money, saves energy.
6. Use your phone's backlight as a flashlight/nightlight if you need to see something when your in bed.
7. Don't charge your phone as habit, charge it only when you need it.
8. If you can go online with your phone, you can get your news that way and save paper.
9. Charge your phone with solar power. Click here to read a review of a solar charger http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11288_7-6427792-3.html
10. Don't want a solar charger? Ask your electricity provider for alternative methods such as wind.
11. Carbon offsetting. Use the electricity you need and pay another company to use renewable resources. Check out www.GreenEnergyChoice.com
12. Spend less time on the phone!

In other cell phone news, Motorola is working on a cellphone with a display screen that doubles as a solar cell. It won't be long until you can charge your phone with the sun's rays. What a beautiful idea!!!

Guzzle Guzzle

A little bit of what we need today...


It was on this day in 1942 that President Roosevelt announced that the United States would begin a national gas rationing campaign on December 1st. All Americans had to display a sticker in their car window saying what category of gas ration they had. Everyone started out at "A," which got people about four gallons a week. Local rationing boards were set up to assign a "B" or "C" ration to people who needed more gas if they could prove it was necessary for their work.The campaign made propaganda posters that asked, "Is This Trip Necessary?" or said, "When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler! Join a Car-Sharing Club TODAY!" Along with the gas rations, the national speed limit was set at 35 mph.The gas rationing wasn't a result of a gas shortage. The United States was self-sufficient in oil and was actually a major exporter of petroleum. But the Japanese had taken over the rubber plantations in the Dutch East Indies that produced 90 percent of America's raw rubber, and there was no synthetic rubber. The government was afraid that if everyone kept driving, they would wear out tires that couldn't be replaced. The factories and the entire war effort would come to a halt. So the United States' first national gas rationing campaign was a roundabout way to conserve rubber. The gas ration continued until August of 1945.


Source: The Writer's Almanac

Check It Out

Fuel, which did well at Sundance is all about our addiction to oil. It's still on the west coast, but check out their site and Demand It! for NYC (they offer it on their site)

Money Talks

Recent events have proven that individual voices can can be heard around the world and can bring about great change. In these times of economic and environmental crises, the most important way we have of speaking out is how we spend our dollar. By supporting companies that make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint we send a very clear message: companies that care about the planet will thrive on consumer dollars.

But how do you know which companies are making efforts to be green? Check out www.climatecounts.org. This nonprofit collaborative funded by Stonyfield Farms aims to bring consumers to companies that are making an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

Companies are rated on a scale of "Stuck" "Starting" or "Striving" to let you know who has the biggest commitment to tackling global warming, and include apparel companies, hotels, airlines, food services, and many, many more. For instance, in internet services, Google is "Striving" and ebay is "Struggling". In the apparel category, Nike is "Striving" and Levi Strauss is "Starting".

Climate Counts is an incredible tool for the consumer. Knowledge is power, and Climate Counts can help you make better choices. Remember, you don't have to shout from the mountaintop to be heard.

The Take Back the Filter Campaign Worked!

We may have good water here in NYC, but lets face it, many of us use filters to get rid of that fresh from the long pipe taste.  Brooklyn Green Team and obviously the folks about the Take Back the Filter Campaign, are thrilled that Brita, maker of popular water-purifying pitchers, will launch a recycling program in partnership with Recycline (maker of recycled toothbrushes and razors and more) for used water filters beginning in January. Consumers will be able to drop used filters off at selected Whole Foods stores or mail them in; the plastic parts will be turned into recycled toothbrushes and razors, and the activated carbon "will be regenerated for alternative use or converted into energy," according to the company. Rush to your nearest Whole Foods and dump those filters you've been stuffing in your closet for just this occasion! Yipee!

Source: Grist

Lions and Tigers and Bears Go Green!

In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, the Bronx Zoo announced that it will be canceling its annual Holiday Lights show. Acoording to zoo officials, the show consumed about 3,500 kilowatts a night which equals approximately 66 metric tons a season. This equals the amount that a three-person household produces in an entire year!

The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, is doing its part to reduce greenhouse gas emission from their facilities. The Brooklyn Green Team applauds their decision to cut a program that annual draws about 100,000 visitors to the zoo, especially in times of economic uncertainty.

But we can't cancel the holidays altogether! So instead, the zoo will feature the Wild Winterland show. Although there will be no lighted features, the daylight festival will include Clydesdale horse wagon rides, a petting zoo, ice carving, stilt walkers, puppets and craft workshops.

The show will run from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every weekend from Dec. 6 through Dec. 21, and then daily from Dec. 22 through Jan. 4

For more information, visit http://www.bronxzoo.com/this-season-at-the-zoo/events-calendar/wild-winterland.aspx

Shrek is Green!

Universal Studios Hollywood today unveiled new solar powered golf carts that will be used for employee transport for both the movie studio and theme park. The carts were created by the Cruise Car company and will replace the currently used gas powered ones.

This is not the first green initiative taken by Universal Studios; new technologies in lighting, electric motor drives, and software designed to control hydraulic systems were employed in the manufacture of the "The Simpsons Ride", which debuted earlier this year, all designed to create large savings in energy consumption.

The Environmental Media Association's Green Seal Award for achievements in environmental awareness was awarded to Universal Studios Hollywood. It is the first-ever theme park to receive the award.

Congratulations and keep up the good work!!!

New Incentives for Green Taxi Fleet

Just in case you wondered what was happening since the big splash of green cabs and then a plateau...Mayor Bloomberg announced a series of initiatives to increase the use of fuel efficient and eco-friendly taxicabs through new financial incentives and legislative initiatives.  "Our goal from the beginning was to get fuel efficient taxis on the road using whatever appropriate methods required to achieve our goal," said TLC Comissioner Daus. "The new program will incentivize the purchase of cleaner vehicles, while ensuring taxi drivers are not penalized because a cab owner is reluctant to make the wiser purchase of a hybrid vehicle."

Congressman Nadler will sponsor legislation supported by the City that will amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to, at the very least, allow local governments to set fuel efficiency standards for the for-hire vehicles they license. 

Council Member Yassky will explore City Council legislation that will examine reducing the required retirement age for Crown Victoria taxicabs and increasing the required retirement age for fuel efficient cars to further incentivize the use of such cars. 

Learn More

Getting to the Root of it

If you have visited your local Farmers Market recently you probably noticed the variety of root vegetables available. Most of us are a little intemedated by the strange shapes, colors and textures of these veggies and find it hard to imagine what to make with a rutabaga or a turnip. So here is a yummy recipe that will help you enjoy these seasonal wonders.

Root Vegetable Stew with Herb Dumplings

Stew

4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

8 ounces Italian sausage (hot or sweet)

2 pounds assorted root vegetables

1 large onion diced

4 cloves garlic

1 tbls chopped sage or rosemary

4 cups chicken broth

3 cups chopped dark leafy green of your choice

Salt and pepper to taste

Dumplings

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all purpose or cake flour

1 tbls chopped sage or rosemary

1 tbls baking powder

1 large egg

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1/4 tbls salt

1. To prepare stew: Heat 2 tbls oil in a medium skillet add sausages and cook until brown on all sides (5 minutes). Transfer to cutting board, when cool slice into 1 inch pieces.

2. Heat the remaining oil in a Dutch Oven or large pot. Cook onion until tender (4 minutes). Add chopped root vegetables (make sure all the pieces are the same size) cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic and sage, cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add broth, salt and pepper and bring stew to a simmer. Stir often.

3. To prepare dumplings: Whisk flour, pastry flour, sage, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Add egg and milk, stir until a stiff batter forms.

4. When stew reaches a simmer, stir in greens and sausage and return to a simmer. Drop 1 tbls of dough at a time (making about 10 dumplings). Adjust heat to maintain a gentle simmer, cover and cook undisturbed for 10 minutes. 

5. When ready the vegetables should be tender, the sausage cooked through and the dumplings puffed.

Serves 6 - 1 hour prep and cook time

Help Your Landlord Out-Even If You Don't Really Like Them!

Many of us New Yorkers don't have control over our thermostat during the cold winter months. Some of us are in our apartments sweltering, throwing windows open in January, while others of us walk around our apartments wrapped in blankets all winter. These two extremes of the heating issue in many cases are due to the infrastructure of the old buildings that many New Yorkers reside in, in other cases maybe your landlord is just too cheap to turn the heat up to a livable temperature! Either way, you can make a few home improvements that will keep you toasty, your landlords heating bill down, all the while saving the environment.

Step 1. Remove your air conditioner. This will keep cold air from seeping in.
Step 2. Weatherstrip your doors and windows. (At the very least lock your windows to insure that they are closed tightly.)
Step 3. Move all furniture and rugs away from the heat source. This will allow the warm air to circulate around your apartment or home. (In fact you could make an interesting decorating choice while adding a bit of warmth to your home- hang a carpet on the wall.)
Step 4. If you do have control of your thermostat, set your thermostat 8 degrees lower while you are not at home. Most people have there thermostat set for 70 degrees while they are home, but if you use a blanket, you could comfortably set your thermostat for 68 degrees.
Step 5. Invite a bunch of friends over to watch a movie and insist that you all smush together on your couch. That will insure warmth!

Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.

Well, lets not get ahead of ourselves. While flying cars are still only to be found in the movies, a car that runs completely on solar energy is no longer the stuff of science fiction. The technology is here and we hope that its only a matter of time until the world's largest car manufacturers are scrambling to get solar cars to consumers. When that day comes, we will have to thank people like Louis Palmer.

Palmer is currently driving the first completely solar powered car around the world to prove that oil independence is possible. The journey began on July 3rd 2007 in Lucerne, Switzerland and will include forty countries on five continents with absolutely no carbon emissions!
The car can travel up to 90 km/h for up to almost 200 miles on its fully charged batteries and on a sunny day can travel a distance of 260 miles, using its solar cells.

Palmer and his team are currently headed to Amsterdam and will finish up their journey in Lucerne on December 18, 2008.

Check out the solar taxi blog for information on the building of the car, the mission, the team, and the route. There is also a great video blog! http://www.solartaxi.com/blog/ How Inspiring!!!

AMERICA RECYCLES DAY!

To prepare you New Yorkers for the big event tomorrow (you can feel the excitement in the air, can't you?) - America Recycles Day! brought to you by the National Recycling Coalition when aluminum cans and cardboard boxes will be flying into recycling bins everywhere! TAKE THEIR RECYCLING PLEDGE!

Here are some helpful recycling tips for here in the Green Apple:

Pizza boxes are recyclable - if the bottom is really greasy, rip off the top and just put that in. Paper cups and plates are NOT recyclable - because they were holding your liquids. plus we know you don't use paper cups because you signed up for the Bring Your Own Mug Challenge!

ALL OTHER PAPER is recyclable

Take-out containers and plastic bags ARE NOT recyclable - only PLASTIC JUGS AND BOTTLES ARE!

Metal hangers (though you should first try to reuse yourself or return to a dry-cleaner for reuse), pots, cans, and EVEN ALUMINUM FOIL ARE recyclable!

When you see recycling mistakes happen - speak out! Talk to your neighbors, stick your hand in if you dare and remove non-recyclable items out of the bins and into the trash or vice-versa. Talk to your landlord! Sign up to be an OROE volunteer and school everyone! Get an OROE volunteer to lead a building-wide recycling training! Go ahead, look at the stickers on the bin, we dare you! Think its too overwhelming? Click here for the HOW-TO

Check out The Cycle, an animated step by step short by RecycleBank on the recycling process! http://www.explorethecycle.com/

CUE Turns 30 - Celebrates with Big Green Gala!

As the BK Eagle Reports, the Center for the Urban Environment, or CUE, which is known for its educational programs in collaboration with schools and its tours of city neighborhoods and parks, moved earlier this year to 168 Seventh St., a LEED gold-certified facility in Gowanus. At the same time, it changed its name from the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment to the Center for the Urban Environment because it now sponsors programs throughout the city. And now, on Monday night, the organization will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a “green-tie” affair at its offices, starting at 6:30 p.m. Honorees will include Sarah Beatty of Green Depot; Ronald Chalusian of New Visions for Public Schools; Helena Durst of the Durst Organization; and Marcel Van Ooyen of the Council on the Environment of New York City. The event will have lots of great green touches like catered food sourced from local farms, a virtual journal which will save paper, and literally green ties made from audio tape ribbon!

Read All About It!

National Recycling Day!

In preparation for National Recycling Day on November 15, here are some interesting paper recycling facts from Sprint Recycling in NYC

THE WAY IT IS
Paper waste comprises 40% of our municipal solid waste stream.
Less than 1/3 of our paper is manufactured from recycled sources, and in the U.S., 99% of the virgin fiber used for paper manufacturing comes from trees.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that by 2010, worldwide paper and paperboard consumption will increase 90% from 1993. This equates to a consumption level of 528 million tons.
U.S. businesses throw away 21 million tons of paper every year, the equivalent of 175 pounds per office worker.
On average, every American consumes over 730 pounds of paper a year, making the U.S. the world's greatest paper consumer. A 12-foot high wall stretching from New York City to Los Angeles could be built with our annual office and writing paper waste.
The 300 million rolls of fax paper we use each year is enough to go from the Earth to the moon 26 times.

THE GOOD NEWS

Benefits of RecyclingRecycling one ton of new paper translates into the savings of:
17 mature pulp-producing trees
78.75 gallons of oil
7,000 gallons of water
41,000 Kilowatt hours of energy

In keeping with NYC's mantra IF YOU CAN TEAR IT, WE CAN TAKE IT, don't forget to recycle ALL your paper except for that which comes into contact with food and post-it notes (because of the sticky stuff).

Brooklyn Green Team Pictures

Click here to see pictures of our Bring Your Own Mug challenge launch on Saturday at ReBar! Want to see your picture on our blog. If you sign-up for the challenge, email us at brooklyngreen@gmail.com with a picture of you and your travel mug and tell us your story!

Finally!

Mayor Mike has called for charging shoppers 6 cents for every plastic bag needed at the register. If the proposal passes, New York City would follow the lead of many European countries and become one of the first places in the United States to assess a so-called plastic bag tax. Seattle voters will weigh in on a similar measure next year, and other places, like Los Angeles and Dallas, have studied the idea. City officials estimate that the fee could generate $16 million a year, a figure that Mr. Bloomberg would no doubt appreciate, given the lingering and concussive effects of the global economic crisis on the city’s economy. But while the fee would burnish Mr. Bloomberg’s environmental record, it might not be a lasting source of revenue. Just a few weeks after Ireland adopted a similar, though much heftier tax in 2002 — charging shoppers 33 cents a bag — plastic bag use dropped 94 percent, and within a year, nearly everyone in that country had purchased reusable cloth bags. Still, the mayor believes that the 6-cent fee would have a major impact on consumers’ behavior.

More importantly than income for the city, think of the environmental impact, or non-impact!

READ ALL ABOUT IT
See what NYTime's Big City commentary says about the proposal.

The Bring Your Own Mug Challenge

Presented by Brooklyn Green Team in partnership with GreenEdge Collaborative NYC

THE BRING YOUR OWN MUG CHALLENGE!

"Why did they even buy me? I sit here on a dark crowded shelf day after day. And then...for a moment, I think my life is going to change. They open the cabinet, our eyes meet. Their gentle hand grazes against my aluminum body. At last! Today is the day they are going to proudly walk me down the street as I carefully hold and keep warm a most precious commodity - the morning coffee. But no, they move right past me and reach for the cereal box."

- Your travel mug, 2008

Does your travel mug feel this way? Neglected? Passed over for a wasteful, disposable, one-time-only, headed for the landfill paper cup? Don't let this happen.

THE FACTS: CAN YOU SWIG IT?

Today, there is no way to compost or recycle the billions of disposable coffee cups used in the U.S. each year. That's because cups are lined with a petroleum-based plastic (polyethylene) to prevent leaking.

Most disposable coffee cups have a life of only 5 minutes before they are tossed in the trash.

In a single week, the average coffee joint goes through 4,000 cups and plastic lids!

Every year, Americans drink more than 100 billion cups of coffee. Of those, 14.4 billion are served in disposable paper cups-enough to wrap the earth 55 times if placed end-to-end!

SOLUTIONS

Use a travel mug. Often made of stainless steel, they keep your liquid hotter longer than a disposable cup.

Encourage stores to offer a discount for bringing your own and patronage those who already do.

If you buy coffee five days a week, with your travel mug instead, you could save 260 cups from the landfill!

SIGN UP email brooklyngreen@gmail.com and write BRING MY OWN! include first and last name and zipcode

Thank you Recycline! Thank you EPA Watersense! Thank you Environmental Defense Fund! Thank you Blue Marble Ice Cream! Thank you VivaTerra! Thank you Lion in the Sun! Thank you Camilla Boutique!

POW. YOU'VE BEEN GREENED!

Party With Brooklyn Green Team Tonight!

Join us tonight at 8pm at REBAR (168 Front Street-Dumbo). We'll praise you for taking shorter showers and challenge you yet again. We'll unveil our newest challenge, offer you raffle prizes, drink specials and you can even sign up for wind power through Con Edison Solutions! Hope to see you there!

The Creative Ecosystem

Brooklyn Artists Gym is concerned with the ecosystem. The creative ecosystem in Brooklyn in which their artists thrive and work and the one we all live within. That's why they're throwing their first annual fundraiser, "Shades of Green," in big green fashion tonight at a big, glam green building - Center for the Urban Environment's LEED Certified headquarters in Gowanus (right next door to BAG).  There were green lights everywhere, crazy cameras that showed dancers 4x over, good food and great artwork for sale and for raffle. Marty Markowitz presented one of BAG Fund's scholarships for single-parent artists and high school artists which was a very touching moment.

Brooklyn Artists Gym, which hosts a 10,000 square foot artist studio and gallery facility, is committed to support the creative process and "ecosystem" by providing artists with studio space and technical support at critical points in their life cycle. Shades of Green promoted BAG's role in enabling sustainability of artists and art and represents the growing intersection between the green movement and the arts community. This event featured guest DJ Miss Mocha who spun great tunes, Brooklyn-based guitarist Mike Gamble (Scrambler) who showed off his experimental talents and performed as a one-man band, rising star Chen Lo whose spoken word inspired and touched on two important topics: the environment and Obama, and Hip Hop purist Baba Israel with Yako 440 who got the crowd on their feet, taught beat-box, and amazed with their skills. 

lots of food, drinks, silent auction, a goody bag that rivals your seventh birthday, and the proceeds support BK art and artists all while having fun in a eco-friendly way. What could be better? 

Run for One Planet Hits NYC!!!

Brooklyn Green Team is thrilled to have found Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait in NYC - one stop along their great journey - a carbon neutral year-long run around the continent! These two green superheroes are running around Canada and the US to garner attention for their cause: saving the planet. Today Matt and Stephanie spoke to students at PS 8 in Brooklyn. The Run for One Planet is an ongoing run endeavour focused on "Inspiring Environmental Action, One Step at a Time."

What is the goal of your journey? Do you feel you will accomplish it?

Our journey has 3 goals:

1) Complete a marathon each every day the tour goes totaling roughly 244 marathons by May 2009

2) Inspire 1 million Americans and Canadians to commit to doing 1 new action for the health of our Planet

3) raise $1 million for our Legacy of Action after completion of the North American tour to act as seed money for grass roots community enhancement projects (funding local initiatives to make a difference globally) We feel VERY strong and excited that we will accomplish our goals, and at the same time the journey is more important than the destination.

How hard is it to stay green while traveling around?

We had a worm compost onboard since day 1 and had to stop when the weather got really hot. However, just last week (Oct. 5th) we went to clean it and would you know it, all the red wrigglers had made many babies and eaten all the organic material we had been feeding them between May and July and to our amazement, thick, rich and incredible soil!! It made my week! Now that we are into Fall we are starting up again as we enter America. Border security said we couldn't bring live worms across from Canada so we are beginning anew Oct. 20th, so hope to have them well on their way by the time we reach New York. It has been a bit harder being as green as we are able at home. The Evolution RV uses a lot of fuel. However, we often debate how much more would three people be using in 3 separate homes, driving 3 cars and all the other energy usage? We spent almost a year putting as many E-alternatives on and inside the RV. It's not perfect but we have tried very hard to do as much as possible to lighten our footprint and are off-setting the total tour Co2 emissions with Eco Neutral out of Vancouver B.C.

Have there been days where you simply couldn't run and if so, how do you get back on the road?

I have to be honest, there has never been a day I've felt I couldn't run. Our mission is too strong and even though, yes, we have both had very hard days both being exhausted, sore and beat up, this inspires us even more to just put one foot in front of the other.

What has been the best part of your journey so far?

People! The best part so far would be the culmination of the last 22 months of training, planning, struggling, celebrating and now running, is meeting so many amazing people for the last 5 1/2 months across Canada, and now about to enter America and meet more amazing people to make a difference for the health of our Planet. It kind of feels like the best is yet to come.

Does a sense of awareness for what is happening to the planet vary greatly at each place you stop?

The awareness from different places we stop at varies GREATLY. It's funny because we have been surprised by some places thinking they were going to be one way and they're the opposite and vice versa. There are always people though in every area that are right on it and it doesn't always mean from big city (no awareness) to small town (big awareness). Both are everywhere which bodes well if we keep at it and stretch peoples thinking and re-teach how to do things everyday. It starts with learning new habits and then the thinking changes of how we are connected to our environment.

How much further?

About 6,000 miles to go!!!!!

What can people reading this do to support your efforts?

They can log onto http://www.runforoneplanet.com/ and Take the Action Challenge and just commit to doing 1 new action for our Earth (remember, small steps add up). If they also feel so inclined to Support our Legacy with a donation, it is gratefully accepted.

Good Luck Guys!!!

YES WE CAN!

THIS IS HISTORY FOLKS. SOAK IT IN. A HUGE VICTORY FOR THE PLANET.

ROCK THE VOTE! (hopefully you already have)

In the spirit of the elections, we thought we would share with you a group that works tirelessly on behalf of the voice of the environment within politics.  League of Conservation Voter's is your guide on politics and the environment. They advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt and implement such policies. They inform the public about the most important environmental legislation of the past Congressional session and show them how their own and other representatives voted. Get involved and hold your politicians accountable! 

Check them out. 

Reasons to Vote Tomorrow

Universal Health Care means more beautiful people.

Jesus didn't get a vote. Neither did Emily Dickinson, Harriet Tubman, or Leonardo Da Vinci. Eleanor Roosevelt couldn't vote until she was 36 years old. So that's one thing you've got on all of them.

The stakes have never been higher for the viability of human life on earth.

Five of the nine sitting justices on the Supreme Court are edging toward retirement age, which means five potential vacancies within the next four to eight years.

Margins of victory in swing states like Ohio and Florida have been as low as half a percent in the past two presidential elections.

It's so easy, even old people can do it. And they do. In 2004, only 47% of people age 18-29 voted; 73% of people age 65-74 did.  Are they voting for the person you want to win?

Because it's a slightly more important vote than the next American Idol.

and finally, if you don't, crotchety old war hawks can become president.

ROCK THE VOTE. reasons courtesy of Good

Smart Strip

One green team member recently made a green purchase worth sharing. The smart strip, which despite saying "as seen on TV," usually a deterrent to us green team members, is just that. Smart. If you plug in your television and all the extras like your DVD player and video games and stereo into the strip, as long as the TV is turned off, the other machines automatically turn off and there is no power being sent to them. It's as if you unplugged. You save money on your electric bill and no phantom power!

Smart Strip