The Green Police: See the full ad

5 comments February 8th, 2010

Compost infractions! Batteries in the garbage! The water setting is at 105! Foam cups! Get your laugh from the Audi/Cheap Trick ad from the Super Bowl here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/user/greenpolice[/youtube]

I usually don’t find green news in EW or E!, but …

Add comment October 7th, 2009

Actress Jessica Biel will climb Mount Kilimanjaro in January to raise awareness of the fact that 1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean, safe drinking water.

Summit on the Summit, organized by singer Kenna, says every 15 seconds, a chid dies of a waterborne illness. The mountain is the highest point in Africa. You can donate by clicking on the Summit link.

Headline that makes you go “hmmm”

Add comment September 18th, 2009

“In hundreds of cities, parking spaces become parks”…

Having just visited Chicago, I thought parking was too sorely needed and too financially lucrative for this to be true.

It’s true, in the form of a protest today:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Activists across the nation parked themselves curbside Friday, taking up spaces reserved for cars and transforming them into mini parks with sod, potted plants, lawn chairs and even barbecue grills to raise awareness about how the auto has won the battle over public space in big cities.

The “Park(ing) Day” movement, started four years ago in San Francisco, has spread to more than 100 cities on four continents.

Why? According to founder Matthew Passmore (kind of a funny name, for a driving-related story):

(Passmore) cites a study by Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, which found that drivers spent an average of 3.3 minutes, or half a mile, circling the block in search of a parking space. Over a year, vehicles traveled 950,000 miles - the equivalent of 38 trips around the Earth - just looking for a parking spot. Shoup said many drivers would rather cruise for open spots on the street than park in higher-priced lots and garages.

“Converting a parking space into something else challenges people’s assumption about how space is used and allows them to reimagine the possibilities of the urban landscape,” Passmore said.

Where was Cash for Clunkers when I had a Plymouth Horizon?

Add comment July 30th, 2009

OK, I jest, but Friday’s Register Star Wheels section highlights the federal government’s ”Cash for Clunkers” program, aka CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System).

The goal in spending $1 billion of your tax dollars is to boost auto sales and “clean up” the roadways by getting Americans to buy more energy-efficient vehicles. Apparently, it’s working! See below.

To qualify, your set of wheels must be model year 1984 or newer and still operable, among other things, like you must improve your mpg by certain levels with your new car. The $3,500 to $4,500 credits were supposed to be available until November, but the government is supposedly suspending the program due to high demand in just one week.

Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting the suspension. …

Even before the suspension, some in Congress were seeking more money for the auto sales stimulus. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., wrote in a letter to House leaders on Wednesday requesting additional funding for the program.

“This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn,” Miller said Thursday. “The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going.”

Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said they would work with “the congressional sponsors and the administration to quickly review the results of the initiative.”

General Motors Co. spokesman Greg Martin said Thursday the automaker hopes “there’s a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer.”

IM: Waste of time or good cause?

Add comment July 14th, 2009

I don’t use instant messaging much (mostly to communicate with the Webmaster, on AIM… I’m jpollock@rrstar.com, by the way).

I recently got an e-mail forwarded to me that included a signature pushing the fact that Windows Live IM and Hotmail users can help support social causes, like Sierra Club. This is not new ($2.4 million raised since March 2007). Just new to me.

Probably more of you could sign up for the Hotmail (e-mail) option, of course.

I drink tea, not coffee, but…

Add comment April 30th, 2009

I’ve stumbled upon the same green tip twice in the past 24 hours: Use a reusable mug for your hot beverage.

First I saw it during my recording of “Parks and Recreation,” which is getting good, BTW. The NBC PSA with “Heroes” guy Masi Oka talks about how many lined, disposable coffee cups could circle the planet 55 times in a year. I can’t find the darn video, but there is this general one…

Then I saw the idea on Ed Begley Jr.’s venture FixingthePlanet.com Fix List.

I keep a reusable mug in my car, just in case. It probably smells like ginger peach tea.

How is Rockford going green?

Add comment April 22nd, 2009

The city is doing a number of things. …

Wear ‘green’

Add comment April 14th, 2009

I’ve written before about green T’s (here and here), but here’s a new line I heard about via press release.

In addition to being made with bamboo and organic cotton, Donna Karan and Urban Zen’s line available at Tonic.com donates 20 percent of each sale to global causes.

As you can see, each makes a “call to action” statement about inspiring change and making a difference. Cost is $65 each. Not sure I’d pay that much for a T-shirt, honestly.

Never heard of this site? Me neither, but…

Tonic makes it easy for people to do good things. The definition of Tonic is “anything morally, mentally, or physically inspiring” and we think it’s a good name for us!

We are a media company focused on the good that happens each day in neighborhoods all around the world. Our world is defined by a philosophy that people want to matter and make a difference instead of being defined by age, race, income, gender or geography.

One twist about us is that most media companies are typically sustained through advertising dollars, but instead we decided to create an online store filled with products that do something good for the world. Each product has a social benefit, either through how it’s made or some portion of the sale price being donated to charity.

Don’t take fresh produce for granted

Add comment March 12th, 2009

If you were one of the more than 500 (mostly women) last week at the YWCA Leader Luncheon, you heard Malaak Compton-Rock talk about her life dedicated to philanthropy, especially helping women and children.

When I had the pleasure of talking briefly with Compton-Rock, otherwise known as the wife of Chris Rock, beforehand, she mentioned her work in South Africa (a project that took kids “from the projects of Brooklyn” to volunteer in shanty towns). What I didn’t know until her speech was that the grannies who have to raise children who’ve lost their parents to AIDS are helped in part by food gardens (she’s partnered with Food Gardens Foundation).

As I was listening, I thought, a green angle! She said it herself! “Sustainability.” Note to self. … The gardens sustain those in poverty with food, livelihood and environmental awareness. Sorry I didn’t get around to it sooner.

If the Swedes did it …

Add comment March 6th, 2009

This week, the Chicago Tribune wrote about Kalmar, Sweden, a city much smaller than Rockford, that has made the leap toward reliance on alternative energy.

The city of 60,000—and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people—has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community “district heat,” produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region’s electricity.

My favorite quote is from a resident who says “We are not eco-freaks.” The story also notes some of the challenges of living greener. One family couldn’t afford to switch to hybrid cars and couldn’t make the switch to a vegetarian lifestyle but gave up their dryer. Wow.