Consumer awareness is a crucial step in solving the issue and so is corporate social responsibility which is  why I was excited to see this storefront recently at a Sony Style store in San Diego. Of course I had to check it out. Yep, modern green fonts get me every time. I discovered that Sony has launched a new electronics recycling program called EcoTrade.  Products eligible for recycling include laptops, cameras, camcorders, digital books, game systems, MP3 players and mobile phones.  Two things make this a really cool program:

1. They accept Sony and non-Sony products.

2. You receive credit to use toward the purchase of a new Sony product.

3. You receive credit to use toward the purchase of a new Sony product. Thought that deserved to be written 2x. Hello! They are giving you money!

By the way, if you’re in the market for a new laptop, I recommend the VAIO W series made partially from recycled CDs cuz that’s just crazy cool. Turns out Sony has a long history of environmental initiatives. The Sony Take Back Recycling Program was the first national recycling initiative to involve both a major electronics manufacturer and a national waste management company. On their green website, Sony’s stated goal is to collect a pound of electronics for every pound it produces. They’ve collected 27.1 million pounds so far.  They also have a goal to reach a zero environmental footprint by 2050. I like a company with a plan. Definitely makes me feel better about replacing my clunker of a laptop!

When the folks at Treehugger called and asked me to help produce a video series for their Green Holiday Gift Guide, I chugged some organic yerba mate and jumped on a plane to DC to get cracking. I’ve always been a big fan of Treehugger. I love their irreverent tone and sense of play.  To me they strike the perfect balance between taking the environment very seriously but not always themselves. Their team digs up the most fascinating and cutting edge stories, the writing is smart and entertaining and the aesthetic clean and modern.  So with all that in mind, we created companion videos for the gift guide so folks could see the products in action and I could play with sock puppets and get paid for it.

This video features gifts for The Animal Lover and The Kids:

Doggy Rain Coat by Recycling Zychal

Life by Discovery Channel

Cate & Levi puppets

Species Adoption from World Wildlife Fund

When the folks at Treehugger called and asked me to help produce a video series for their Green Holiday Gift Guide, I chugged some organic yerba mate and jumped on a plane to DC to get cracking. I’ve always been a big fan of Treehugger. I love their irreverent tone and sense of play.  To me they strike the perfect balance between taking the environment very seriously but not always themselves. Their team digs up the most fascinating and cutting edge stories, the writing is smart and entertaining and the aesthetic clean and modern.  So with all that in mind, we created companion videos for the gift guide so folks could see the products in action and I could live out my dream of powering a TV with a bike generator.

This video features gifts for the Green Geek and Do-It-Your-Self’er:

Voltaic Systems Solar Amp Charger

eMonitor by Powerhouse Dynamics

Windstream Bike Power Generator

It’s National Farmers Market Week so I’d like to take a moment to thank farmers everywhere for doing what I haven’t been able to do: grow enough vegetables for an entire meal. If you’re like me you spend alot of time and money and maybe ended up with a cucumber or two. My final tally is something like 1 cherry tomato, 3 strawberries and a couple green beans. That’s taking “small plates” to the extreme. Turns out this whole organic gardening thing is much tougher than it seems especially if you want to actually eat.  I don’t know if I’m giving up gardening yet but I’ll ponder the pros and cons over an organic carrot from the farmers market.

The Deepwater oil spill disaster is over (we hope) but is it too soon to ask, where should I buy gas?  I’m all for a clean energy future but I still have to buy gas today…where should I go and does it matter? Are any oil companies “greener” than others? Watch the video and see what I find out and then let me know where you buy your gas or if you’ve made any changes to your fuel consumption since the spill.

Resources:

Greenopia’s Green Oil Guide

Lisa Margonelli’s Oil on The Brain: Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to your Tank.

I know I’m not supposed to call it global warming anymore because that seems to confuse people. Personally, I like Thomas Friedman’s term: global weirding. Whatever you call it, it’s the planet’s fast track to destruction.  Scientists say 350 parts per millions C02 in the atmosphere is the safe upper limit for humanity. We’re at 387. Um, that’s a problem. So global warming expert Bill McKibben founded 350.org to bring awareness to the issue and inspire action around the world.

DC’s Day of Action can be summed up in two words: rainy and inspirational.  I met the amazing Michele Roberts, Campaign & Policy Coordinator for Advocates for Environmental Human Rights. She can give a speech, crack a joke and carry a sign all while dodging traffic in heels and torrential rain. Watch how she works up the crowd.   Next, I run into my friend David Piller, who you’ll recall as my “hemp husband” from the Hemp Fashion Show.  Remember when I said “seems like there’s nothing this plant can’t do?” Well, I was right because apparently it can also help fight global warming.  All in all, a soggy good day that proves that no matter what nature or global warming deniers throw at us, we’re gonna show up and shout chants that rhyme with Obama.

On my mission to explore hemp fashion, I decide to volunteer in a hemp fashion show at the Green Festival in Washington, DC because you can’t really know hemp by looking at it, you gotta walk a runway in it.  Not only do I learn how to do the hemp strut, I also learn a really surprising fact about hemp–one that will fire up your inner activist and send you straight to Vote Hemp’s website to learn more.

Organizations Featured:

Vote Hemp

Hemp Industries Association

Companies Featured:

Capitol Hemp

Crucial Hemp

Dash Hemp

NuHemp

Ruth’s Hemp Foods

Way Out Wax

Featured in Fashion Show:

Conscious Clothing

LiViTY Outernational

Mountains of the Moon

Rene Geneva Designs

Vital Hemptations

Sure he loves his family, wine and the NY Jets, but does he love our mother earth? I brave the unattractive (yet eco friendly) fluorescent lighting at American University to get  Gary Vaynerchuk to reveal how green he really is…

While you might think the idea of 20 college teams competing to build a solar powered house on the National Mall in DC sounds cool, you might also think it sounds rather dull.  You want drama, tension, conflict…maybe even an upset?! Well, it’s all here. Just wait til you get to the shower test scene.