Earth Hour will be the largest voluntary power down in history

Tonight, March 29, the world will take a stand. Millions of people from Australia to America and buildings including the Sears Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge will turn off their lights for one hour to show how working together we can make a difference in the fight against climate change. Staring in Christchurch, New Zealand, Earth Hour will roll through 14 time zones, wrapping up in the Pacific Time zone representative San Francisco, CA. Traversing more than 25 cities in 10 countries, Earth Hour will be the largest voluntary power down in history.


Please consider participating in this effort by, that's right, shutting off your lights tonight from 8-9.


Who's Involved?

World Wildlife Fund

Sports Teams and Corporations

Phoenix Suns

Chicago Bears

Hewlett Packard

Esurance

National Geographic Channel

McDonald's will turn off its golden arches in over 480 locations in Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana.

Flagship Cities

Aalborg, Denmark

Aarhus, Denmark

Adelaide, Australia

Atlanta, United States

Bangkok, Thailand

Brisbane, Australia

Canberra, Australia

Chicago, United States

Christchurch, New Zealand

Copenhagen, Denmark

Dublin, Ireland

Haifa, Israel

Manila, Philippines

Melbourne, Australia

Montreal, Canada

Odense, Denmark

Ottawa, Canada

Perth, Australia

Phoenix, United States

San Francisco, United States

Suva, Fiji

Sydney – Australia

Tel Aviv, Israel

Toronto, Canada

Vancouver, Canada


Find out more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Hour


Spread the message.

Push Large American Mutual Funds to Use their Clout to Push Companies in Climate Change

Co-op America needs our support...help them help you by pushing some of the largest mutual funds in America to use their biggest weapon (their wallets!) to push companies on climate change.

This just in from Co-op America's email:
"Mutual funds like American Funds, Morgan Stanley, Pioneer, Vanguard, and more have a history of abstaining or voting against climate resolutions. Tell them with us that the time to act is now.

Push mutual funds to act on climate change »"

NO PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES!

Yep, you heard me...no plastic water bottles :) I committed to not buying plastic water bottles as part of the no Plastic Water bottle Challenge hosted by the Brooklyn Green Team and that is my story, and I am sticking to it!

I am 11 days into my commitment and it's been no problemo. I even walked my desk-ridden bum down to the water dispenser (a few blocks away from the home office) this week with two gallon jugs and paid my 60 cents to refill them then walked home. Eco-friendly, low cost workout for a healthy planet and healthier body!

Your future Brooklyn green friends (SIGN UP) send reminders once you commit to the challenge and I love the great tips. Here's one from this week:

"Remember to use a ceramic or glass mug for your liquids throughout the day and when you need water on the go, look for a #1 or #2 plastic to avoid leaching. OR try Swellz a company that makes water sacks, hand-made in Spain (the original birthplace of water sacks) using latex interiors hand sewn with soft leather with a handy-strap for carrying. They're good for hot and cold and they age like a favorite baseball glove."

Three Leaf Cards is also supporting the challenge by donating a free one-year e-card membership every week until Earth Day for individuals who join the challenge. Our eco-cool cards are nature-inspired online greeting cards (tree-free!) and we donate 10% each of annual membership fees to nonprofit organizations.

Erase waste, reduce, reuse, recycle! And join the no water bottle challenge - I DARE YOU!!!

JOIN THE CHALLENGE NO DISPOSABLE WATER BOTTLES
Kick the Disposable Lifestyle this FEBRUARY - APRIL
To Join, email brooklyngreen@gmail.com and write SIGN ME UP! (please include your first and last name or at least last initial)

A GreenSage Guide to Indoor Air Quality

Elaine Ireland did a great post for GreenSage.com, Where Every Issue is a Green Issue (love that!) on Indoor Air Quality.

Did you know that one of the WORST places we can be for toxins is inside and worse, in our homes (eeek!) We have to think about this stuff...environmental issues are not just political, they are emotional because they impact our health!

Per Elaine's post:
"Thousand of pollutants are found indoors. Chemicals, particulates and biological contaminants can wreak havoc on occupants. Indoor exposure concentrations are one to five times, and sometimes as much as 100 times, more polluted than outdoors. Here's the Guide to what these pollutants are and what you can do."

Check out the GreenSage Guide to Indoor Air Quality

Consciousness starts with awareness - pay attention to your environment (and I'm not just talking about outside!!!)

Santa Barbara Sustainability Blog

A super cool Santa Barbaraian, launched a Santa Barbara Sustainability Blog that we wanted to share - it is a blog with passion and purpose:

"This project is to educate and inform while providing consultation and "green" ides to companies so that they may make better strategic business plans that include "go-green" eco-friendly ideas that will support our surrounding environment and will save companies money."

The blogger, Crystal, is a student at Antioch University in Santa Barbara, Ca. It is so cool to see great resources like sustainability blogs pop up online! Bookmark this blog babes - this blog will be a wealth of information!

The Story of Stuff - You HAVE to watch this!

One of my super great friends just sent me the link to the Story of Stuff - so cool!

The site http://www.storyofstuff.com/ explains the video well:

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

You owe it to yourself and family to watch this and be a conscious consumer!!!

Kenneth Cole Launches New Fashion aWEARness Blog

Kenneth Cole has always been a trendsetter, not only with his stellar style, but also in his social, political and environmental activism.

Now Cole has an aWEARness (how cool is he?) blog to communicate and generate awareness about social issues and more.

It's about time fashion REALLY met function. Support companies like Kenneth Cole who are gusty enough to flex the art of fashion and the power of media to influence greater good.

Check out the new aWEARness blog by Kenneth Cole.

This YouTube Video put on by the Kenneth Cole team made me cry at my desk. This is what it's about conscious spenders - being aware and learning to care...

Patagonia & UClimb invites rock climbing beginners to Joshua Tree

For many people interested in learning to rock climb, the most
daunting hurdle is finding a safe and cost effective first experience
more than the physical challenge of climbing itself. UClimb, an
organization designed to bring people closer to the outdoors by
teaching rock climbing in comfortable small-group settings, is an
ideal entry point for those with the desire to do just that. One of
four national UClimb events occurring in 2008 will be hosted in Joshua
Tree, California on April 12-13.

Sponsored by Mountain Gear and Patagonia, the Joshua Tree UClimb event
will include professional climbing instruction. Instructors will take
small groups of climbers to get hands-on experience while learning
climbing techniques, how to use the gear, knot tying, belaying and
etiquette.

"UClimb is dedicated to not only getting new rock climbers involved in
the sport, but also getting people enthusiastic about outdoor
activity," said Phil Bridgers, UClimb event coordinator.

Registration for the weekend event begins at $159 for youth ages 10-17
and $199 for adults. Registration includes professional climbing
instruction, camping at Indian Cove Campground on Friday and Saturday,
transportation from the campground to the climbing areas, a barbeque
on Saturday and a pancake breakfast on Sunday.

For more information and to register, call 800.829.2009 or visit:
mountaingear.com/uclimb/eventdetails.aspx?eventid=5

Day 7 of the No Water Bottle Challenge!

I am on day 7 of my commitment to not use disposable water bottles challenge I have successfully re-used my containers for gym water and have not purchased any plastic bottles!

I walk my gallon jugs to a little water refiller in Summerland, Ca where I live so I am even re-using my old gallon jugs.

Since I committed to the challenge, I have been really surprised at how aware I am of ALL the plastic water, gatorade, juice and tea that are everywhere. Dang, what happened to actually pouring or making a beverage and not having to throw it in our eco-raper cars and drive to our next "thing" Yeesch.

As I work on my issues with our time crunched nation and societal norms and consumption, I will continue to blog about the challenge and anything green and great!

Be aware, make great choices and think not just about the now but how our actions impact the future!

Tell America's Banks: Clean Energy Now!

Co-Op America, one of my favorite non-profit organizations on the planet (that serves to help the planet!) is urging us to tell America's banks that we want clean energy now. We CAN make a difference and sway the organizations we support to continue to serve our wants and needs.

The tide is turning for coal, which is a devastating environmental call (if you have ever seen a coal plant live, it is the most disgusting thing ever!) Good new is that three of America’s biggest investment banks – Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan Chase – announced that they have developed new “Carbon Principles,” calling for increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and limited investments in coal.

The door is still open for these three banks to invest in coal – if it can be shown to turn a profit – and their new standards don’t go far enough in limiting other polluting technologies, or in funding green energy solutions, so we need to communicate our desire as customers of all institutions that we won't settle for pollution.

A recent study released by Ceres ranked the world’s banks on their commitment to addressing carbon emissions, with European banks taking the top five slots in their survey. And compared to community investing banks and credit unions nationwide, which set the standard for lending that helps communities and the environment, America’s largest banks are in the dark ages.

Help Co-op America help you as a banking and financial services customer, to reach out to four of America’s largest banks – Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Wachovia – and tell them they need to do more on climate change. They need to end all financing of coal, set targets for the reductions of CO2 emissions for all their borrowers, and set targets for investments in energy efficiency and renewables.

A few years ago, 150 new coal-fired power plants were proposed across the country. Co-op America’s members and e-activists raised their voices to say to no to the utilities that propose coal plants and the banks that finance them, and in the last two years, 15 plants opposed by Co-op America have been canceled – with dozens more canceled after local and national opposition. We need to keep the momentum up to convince banks that coal is never a good investment.

TAKE ACTION SEND YOUR LETTER NOW!

WATER BOTTLE CHALLENGE

Laurie David, one of our eco-heroes and founder of www.stopglobalwarming.org, sends a superb enewsletter (if you are not on the list go to www.stopglobalwarming.org and get on it)

One of her email topics was proposing that we commit to NOT USE WATER BOTTLES between now and Earth Day. The following is straight from Laurie's email:

"Inspired by our friends at Brooklyn Green Team, who are running their own "No Disposable Water Bottle Challenge," we would like to challenge our virtual marchers to give up disposable water bottles. Start with a commitment not to purchase any plastic bottled beverages between now and Earth Day (April 22).

Every year, Americans throw away over 22 billion plastic bottles, the majority ending up in landfills. Across the country, only 10 percent of plastic water bottles are recycled, says a report from the New York state Department of Conservation. Bottle production requires millions of barrels of oil, and the bottles create toxic air pollution as they are incinerated with regular trash. As the Brooklyn Green Team puts it, it's time for us all to "kick the disposable lifestyle."

I am ready to try this out...it's just me and my aluminum bottle baby! Anyone else who is in, please post a comment to this blog. If we get a strong response, we'll donate free online greeting card memberships as prizes to support the No Disposable Water Bottle Challenge!

I want to see some support!!!!

Patagonia Walks the Talk with Freedom to Roam Initiative

Patagonia is one of our favorite companies.
1. They have AMAZING outdoor products that we use when we are shooting photos for our online greeting cards
2. They are a socially responsible company (Three Leaf Cards is a member of 1% for the Planet)
3. They are an environmentally active company.

They have an initivate called Freedom to Roam that is dedicated to establishing migration wildways for animals between protected areas. Patagonia’s partners in Freedom to Roam include other companies, conservation organizations and recreation groups.

I got this email from Patagonia that explains the purpose and passion:
"Climate change threatens to drive more than a million land species to extinction, according to the Extinction Risk from Climate Change study. Habitats for mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, and butterflies will become warmer. If these species remain trapped in warming habitats due to human development, one-quarter of them could disappear by the end of this century.

Providing species (like this grizzly) with greater freedom to roam between shifting habitats can do much to support their survival. In North America, this means protecting and restoring wildlife corridors along the Pacific Crest, the Continental Divide, the Appalachians, and several other smaller, but equally important, locales.

Freedom to Roam is a partnership of conservation organizations, recreation groups and corporations dedicated to establishing migration corridors between protected areas."

Learn more about the Freedom to Roam partnership and SUPPORT COMPANIES that CARE!

You can vote with your wallets conscious spenders!!

The State Of Our Planet, Graphically Speaking That Is

People like you and me post on blogs like Conscious Spending, make conscious choices in our living and try to make a difference for the world because we are aware of what kind of impact we have on our environment. So, we all also know how big of a threat the climate crisis really is.

But, amazingly, many people are still in denial when it comes to just how critical and urgent the situation really is. BBC came out with a great story that shows the effects of global warming and human impacts on the climate crisis, with nicely illustrated pictures.

Now, for those of us who are unable to "picture" the breadth of this looming disaster, now we can get a great visual reference through these images.

Check it out on BBC.

Green Internet TV ­ A Tribute to Blog Action Day!

Happy Blog Action Day! In celebration of Mother Earth, bloggers all over the world are participating in Blog Action Day, where over 15k websites are all going to unite and blog with one voice for the environment.

For our participation, not only are we having a party with cake and streamers, but also we thought we would share some great websites that stream videos, all about the environment.

The first is Green.tv. Produced by the UN Environment Program, Green.tv takes a look at all environmental issues with a focus on climate change. Sounds like the latest college degree, doesn¹t it?

Big Picture TV features environmental speaker¹s videos from conferences and forums, primarily covering the topic of Ecology. It costs to play in their sandbox though.

UK-based Public TV offers videos from government, private and public organizations, with a dedicated channel to the environment. Keep a pulse on what is going on with environmental issues in other country¹s political chambers.

Frontier.tv ­the short and sweet is that this website offers a section that features a directory covering environmental and conservation topics.

Lastly there is Friction.tv. If debating is your game, this is the place for you.

Happy Blog Action day! Keep blogging away and keep thinking GREEN!

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

I can't help but imagine what the state of our country would be if Gore had not conceded and had taken a seat at the desk in the oval office on that controversial day nearly eight years ago.

Not only does he have an Emmy and an Oscar under his belt, but now he is also among the elite Nobel Peace Prize winners, joining the ranks with social advocates such as Jimmy Carter.

Of course, Al didn't win this on his own and shares the big prize with the UN Panel; but this is a huge win for the earth either way.

Not only has the general population finally accepted the fact that climate change is a real crisis and not just some Halloween myth, but now changes can finally be made to help reverse or slow global warming, which is affecting animals, plants and humans alike.

Read the full story on Al Gore's Peace Prize on Yahoo.

Be a part of the change you want to see in the world. You can send this free make a difference about climate change ecard to spread the word and inspire change.