Two Green Team Members Honor EarthHour

We're Famous

In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, click here to check out the feature on the Brooklyn Green Team in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle this week!

TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS TONIGHT

Don't forget its Earth Hour tonight.   Join the world and turn them off from 8:30 to 9:30.  Learn More. 

Project Green Prom Dress Swap

We just thought this was such a great idea...

On Monday, April 6 @ 6pm, WHOLE FOODS MARKET^® and TEENS TURNING GREEN invite you to take part in PROJECT GREEN PROM DRESS SWAP

As part of the launch of Project Green Prom – a multi-faceted effort from Whole Foods Market and Teens Turning Green to raise awareness about making thoughtful, earth-friendly decisions and purchases around prom season – New York area high school juniors and seniors can participate in a Dress Swap program where they donate their previously worn and loved frocks in exchange for another dress as a way to promote repurposing items to preserve the environment. A green stylist will be on hand to demonstrate cost-effective ways for making something old new again.  In addition to the Dress Swap, attendees will enjoy the opportunity to engage in fun green activities that will include: eco-beauty makeovers and green spa treatments by John Masters, Mineral Fusion and PRITI Spa along with flower and décor preparation and healthy eating tips and menu ideas or the Big Day. Each attending teen will receive tips and experts advice on easy, eco-savvy ways to infuse sustainability into all aspects of their prom -- without sacrificing style.

Details: Monday, April 6 @ Whole Foods Market Tribeca,  270 Greenwich Street (between Warren and Murray)

The Water You're Eating

Good Magazine has a great chart on how much water you use in your daily life that is not easily calculated.  For example: Dinner

Curtain #1 - more water

Beef (1 lb.) - 1,500 gallons

Wine (one glass) - 31 gallons

Bread (two slices) - 11 gallons/slice

Dishwashing (by hand) - 20 gallons

Curtain #2 - less water

Chicken (1 lb.) - 287 gallons

Beer (one pint) - 20 gallons

Baked Potato - 7 gallons

Dishwashing (energy star dishwasher) - 4 gallons

Don't take our word for it, check out the chart. 

Let's Hear It For the Park

At a March 16 meeting of Community Board 2's Parks and Recreation subcommittee, Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (BBPDC) President Regina Myer presented an updated construction schedule for Pier 6.

The BBPDC anticipates opening a portion of Pier 6 and its uplands by the end of 2009. This section of the park near Atlantic Avenue will include a 1.6 acre destination playground with a swing "valley," slide "mountain," wooden structures, and water play area; a dog run; a 30' wide promenade onto Pier 6; a park concession building with 1000 square foot restaurant and roof top deck; and three sand volleyball courts.

Construction company Skanska has begun prepping the site for utilities and base structural work. In the next few weeks, they will begin importing bulk fill to bring the site to grade level. Structural work on the playground area and preparation for a prefabricated park gatehouse (which will be clad with reclaimed timbers from the nearby Cold Storage Warehouse) will begin in the spring, as well as construction of the volleyball courts and dog run. In the summer, Skanska will import horticultural soil and begin planting trees and shrubs. Through the fall and winter, Skanska will complete the park finishes, including paving pathways, completing the lawn and ground cover plantings, and installing site furnishings and playground equipment.

For more information see the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation's website.

Interview with Green Theater Initiative

One Green Team member flew over the website of the Green Theater Initiative and flew down for an interview with Gideon Banner.

BGT: Where did the project idea come from?

GB: I am an actor by trade, and I've been performing with Blue Man Group for some time now. Several years ago I was an original member of their environmental committee. This encouraged me to wonder whether this type of work was happening at other theaters, and I found that it generally wasn't.

BGT: Why wasn't this happening in more places?

GB: Mostly a lack of time and information. Theater managers are very busy, and despite the environmental concerns of many, they just don't have the time to devote to taking steps to go green. Many don't know what to do or how to start: aside from using low VOC paints or installing more energy efficient lighting, what else does a theater do to be green?

BGT: Why should theaters get involved?

GB: Because going green is an opportunity for theaters to be sustainable in both senses of the word, ensuring their financial futures while working to create a sustainable future for their communities. Theaters have the opportunity to answer President Obama's call for a green economy. Also, theaters have historically been an arena for expressing social issues, yet there is a startling lack of theatrical works about the environment and our relationship to it. Change comes once we understand an issue. If we can't understand it, we won't be driven to change it. I hope to see new work that addresses this.

BGT: We see something on your site about visiting other theaters?

GB: We are gearing up to consult directly with theaters. While many theaters are struggling financially, there are steps that can save them money and will cost less. We start with the low hanging fruit items which can save money quickly. Also we are working to present at upcoming trade conferences, such as the Theater Communications Group national conference.

BGT: What is the most satisfying part of this work?

GB: Having an outlet for a passion of mine. Aside from acting, I have an ongoing concern for the environment. Through the Initiative, we are creating a network of people and building momentum. I look forward to making change on the ground by working directly with theaters.

Oh by the way, you can find Gideon as an eco-consultant with Green Irene. He likes this work because it's an opportunity to walk into someone's home and tell them easy things they can do to make their home more sustainable. Find him @ www.greeneirene.com or email gideon.nyc@greeneirene.com

Thanks Gideon. Keep up the great work.

Learn More about the Green Theater Initiative.

WORLD WATER DAY. TODAY!

Because water is a human right...

Today is World Water Day. Do something positive. Think about how wonderful water is. Take a shorter show. Go get a low-flow showerhead.  Stop using bottled water.  Reuse your pasta cooking water to water your plants once it cools down. Flush less.

Two green team members honored world water day by watching the film BLUE GOLD: WORLD WATER WARS. This film was scary, anger invoking, hopeful and mostly amazing.  We recommend it. Here's the summary: Wars of the future will be fought over water, as they are today over over oil, as the source of all life enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling fresh water supply, prompting protests, lawsuits and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive.  Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management.  Will ours too? Based on the groundbreaking book BLUE GOLD: THE FIGHT TO STOP THE CORPORATE THEFT OF THE WORLD'S WATER by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke. 

Check their site. 

Buy the Movie. 

Some cool related sites: Ryan's Well Foundation (trust us it will make you cry); Think Outside the Bottle; Bottlemania; Food and Water Watch; The Polaris Institute; 

About World Water Day

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.  Since 1993, the United Nations General Assembly has designated March 22nd of each year as WORLD WATER DAY (WWD), to recognize the importance of water as a basic requirement of life and the need to manage this precious resource wisely. The main purpose of the day is to promote public awareness of the need to conserve and protect fresh water supplies and to encourage people around the world to promote and carry out activities related to the use and care of water resources.Learn More.

Planet Saving Inventions

National Geographic presented some clever innovations which save lives and the planet. Here's one:

First Prize: Sustainable Technology
Air Conditioner Fights Global Warming

Though it may not seem like the most glamorously green invention, this redesign of the common air conditioner could save a quadrillion BTUs a year in the United States alone.

Replacing the conditioner's piston compressor and expansion valve with scroll compressors--more commonly used in automobile superchargers--and updating the power supply yielded power savings of 30 percent, wrote Create the Future contest winner Lindsay Meek of Australia.

The U.S. Department of Energy reports that two-thirds of U.S. homes have air conditioners, producing a hundred million tons of carbon dioxide annually and consuming 5 percent of the energy produced in the United States -- which costs consumers more than $11 billion.

Check out the rest.

Recycling at Your Schools

For those of you who are trying to inspire the next generation of stewards, NYC Wasteless will help you with the waste and recycling part. Click here to find lots of great resources including lessons for the classroom. Speaking of ways teachers can learn more about greening their schools, CUE is hosting an event this thursday afterschool on that very subject. Here are the details:



Join CUE's crash course on greening your school from the issues you’ll encounter installing a green roof, to creative ways of incorporating sustainability themes into the classroom. Join local experts to discuss easy to implement projects, ways of getting environmental projects funded, opportunities for nonprofit partnerships, and what has (and hasn’t) worked in local schools.

Panelists Include:
Alive Structures
United Federation of Teachers, Green Committee - a great group for teachers to join!
Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

The details:
Where: Center for the Urban Environment 168 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (btw 2nd and 3rd Aves) 718-788-8500

When: Tomorrow, 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

How: Train: Take F train to 4th Avenue or R train to 9th Street. Walk over 2 blocks north to 7th Street and 1st Avenue west to 3rd Avenue. $10 Suggested Donation

On-site recycling: CFL lightbulbs, cell phones, and alkaline batteries.
Limited Seating. REGISTER NOW!

Earth Hour Looms

Protect Our Tuna!

Tuna is one of the world’s favorite fish. It provides a critical part of the diet for millions of people, as well as being at the core of the world’s luxury sashimi markets. But, did you know that globally tuna stocks are under threat?

Stocks of the most iconic and valuable tuna, like bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin and albacore are on the brink of collapse. Our appetite for tuna is pushing the fish closer and closer to extinction. As more and more people consume tuna there has been a surge in the number and capacity of tuna-fishing vessels across the world. As tuna becomes scarcer, the fishing fleets are fishing further and further from their home ports and are squeezing the last remaining tuna out of the ocean. Bycatch from tuna includes hammerhead sharks, marine turtles, skate, and trigger fish. WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT? EAT LESS TUNA and check out sushi/fish guides that tell you what fish are not under threat. TAKE ACTION with Greenpeace to save tuna.

Check out Greenpeace's Tuna Brochure

Other Resources: Pew Charitable Trust's Ocean Division
Environmental Defense Fund - read the Oceans of Abundance Report
Oceana