Blogs & Ecology

Over 1000 years ago, a scholar in Kyoto made such an impression that there are some 12,000 shrines dedicated to his memory. His name was Sugawara-no-Michizane and today, when kids want to enter the college of their choice, they still go to pray at one of his shrines. In Japan, students will sometimes wear a hachimaki, a kind of cotton bandana tied around their head, with a message written expressing a wish - such as entering a certain university.

When a children’s author can sell 13,000 copies in just a month without the support of mass-market booksellers there’s reason to believe this one just may be a hit with your kids. And with Christmas just around the corner and a price tag of $15.95 there’s no doubt the price is right as an eco-themed stocking stuffer to round out your list.

But what’s this suddenly hot selling children’s book about?
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Backed by the star power of folks like LeBron James and Cameron Diaz, Nickelodeon has launched The Big Green Help Global Challenge for kids. It’s the first online multiplayer 3D global game designed for their age bracket with the goal of inspiring them to take action for a greener world. And with groups like the NRDC, NWF, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the LeBron James Family Federation behind it, there’s a great chance they’ll successfully motivate kids to get up off the couch and get moving environmentally....

Photo by Peter Morris, from The Age

Australia’s Manly Council is striving to wean its residents and tourist visitors off bottled water. After Bondi Beach, Manly is possibly Australia’s most well known beach suburb and thus attracts a plethora of visitors who often cross Sydney Harbour by ferry to get there. However being such a drawcard has its downsides, like the sheer volume of single-use, bottled water containers.

(Image: Takakuku)

As the weekend approaches, I'm thinking of the beach and maybe going for a swim. The Pacific Ocean is a wonderful place to go on a steaming hot July day, on this side of it as well.

If you’re a college student or recent grad out hunting for a green job or internship there’s a new online community launched by Experience, a career-advice and job search services provider, that’s aimed just at you. In fact, it hopes to help various organizations nationwide hire interns for positions that help support environmental protection and the development of clean energy sources as well.

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As Mairi Beautyman pointed out not too long ago, The New School in NYC has been taking significant steps in a greener direction by offering degrees for students in environmental programs taking a holistic approach to design through the Tishman Environment and Design Center.

But now there’s word that they’ve begun a new environmental studies program focused on New York City and the urban environment in a bid to help students prepare to tackle the challenges posed by the reality that experts predict that a majority of the world’s population will live, work and play in large ...

There’s a great new exhibit sponsored by Doubletree Hotels and created by the Arbor Day Foundation that hopes to encourage kids from 2 to 10 to explore the beauty of the great outdoors by giving them an incredible learning experience with trees. Titled “Exploring Trees Inside and Out”, the traveling museum exhibit is expected to reach kids in a number of cities across the U.S. by the end of 2010, but there’s a good chance it’s coming soon to a museum near you....

School may be out for the summer, but the truth is that many PTA’s and school organizations start planning for next year’s fundraisers a good deal in advance. And there’s an eco-minded fundraising company called Growkids that’s offering 50% of the proceeds to your school or organization, a vast improvement over some of the organizations offering much, much less that we told you about in a post called “Green Fundraising with One Big Caveat” not so very long ago....

In a taste of what would come if the U.S. were to take the lead in developing global alternative energy solutions, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to bring their expertise to an assessment of health risks in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) due to environmental factors.

When news came that a student named Ryan Morgan at North Pocono High School near Scranton, PA had started distributing CFL bulbs in a bid to raise awareness of global warming and what folks can do about it, I must admit that I was impressed, and felt not a small pull of nostalgia as well. For it was not too long ago that I found myself doing almost the exact same thing with Mr. Luna's Bright Idea, and asking Oprah to lend a hand.

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With 100 million auto rickshaws in use across Asia, student teams from Dutch and Indian universities are taking the challenge to design the cleanest, cheapest and most practical upgrade kit to cut carbon emissions from their incredibly polluting, two-stroke motors.

Each of the rickshaws, known as tuktuks in India, creates as much pollution as 50 cars, and project organizers have set themselves the goal of adapting one million of them to reduce their CO2 emissions by 40-60%.
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Do you know a terrific teacher who has successfully integrated environmental education into their classroom on a routine basis?

Well, the Richard C. Bartlett Environmental Education Award will be presented to a teacher who is creative, passionate, and effective by the National Environmental Education Foundation this fall with the hope that they can serve as an inspiration for the rest of us.
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If you’ve got a wish to get outside and check out the great outdoors with friends and family, consider getting involved with the Great American Backyard Campout set for this upcoming Saturday.

Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, they’re asking folks to register their campsite and take part in what may be the largest concerted camping effort in backyards across America since the Revolution.
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