Earth Day Events

Tomorrow is Earth Day! It was started in 1970 to stop environmental abuse. Today, we recognize these same struggles. So I've put together a list of Earth Day happenings in Austin. I encourage everyone to do a little something to say "Thanks" to mother nature. If you don't have much time do something small -- spread some wildflowers, wash your bird bath or simply sit in the middle of your lawn. Just enjoy the Earth :]

Documentary screening of an Inconvenient Truth
Where: Howson Branch Library 2500 Exposition
When: Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m.

University of Texas Earth Day
Where: all locations on UT campus
When: Tomorrow 10 am-3pm

Library Arts & Crafts
Make a craft out of recycled paper and check out a book to further your environmental knowledge
Where: Carver, Faulk Central, Milwood, St. John, Spicewood Springs, University Branch Libraries
When: 2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

9th Annual Spring Nature Quest
The best birding and all-round nature festival in Central Texas
Click here for more information
When: Tuesday, April 22nd through Sunday, April 27

Jack Hanna Presentation
Naturalist, adventurer and director of the Columbus Zoo speaks
Where: Texas Union Ballroom
When: Tomorrow at 7 pm

Cap Metro Green Day
They willl be promoting the environmental benefits of riding the bus and using reusable bags. Bus riders that bring 5 plastic bags for recycling will receive a cool reusable bag. Volunteers are needed to accept plastic bags for recycling and hand out free reusable bags.
Or if you want to participate go to:
Where: Tech Ridge Park & Ride; North Lamar Transit Center; Oak Hill Park & Ride; Northwest Park & Ride; Pavilion Park & Ride; Leander Park & Ride; 7th at Pleasant Valley Bus Stop
When: Tomorrow 5 am- 8 am

Faith Based Lecture from Mayor Wynn
Mayor Will Wynn speaks about the Austin Climate Protection Plan followed by a conversation on faith-based responses to environmental issues.
Where: Central Christian Church 1110 Guadalupe
When: Tomorrow at 7 pm

Texas Outdoors Woman Network Meeting
meet other women who enjoy the outdoors
Where: Terrazas Library 1105 E. Cesar Chavez
When: Tomorrow 6-8 pm and every fourth tuesday after that

Adopt a Capital Metro Bus Stop
Cap Metro will let you landscape the bus stop yourself to reflect your neighborhood. They can even provide with gardening tools!
Call 512-369-7759 for more information

Coats For Cubs
donate real fur to be used as bedding for orphaned or injured wildlife
Where: Buffalo Exchange 2904 Guadalupe
When: Ends tomorrow

Outdoor Hatha Yoga
Where: on the docks overlooking the pond behind the Dougherty Arts Center
When: Mon-Fri 6-7 pm; Sat-Sun 11am-noon.

Have fun out there! Get green!

Environmental Poem

In my creative writing class, I read fellow peer Steven Montanez's poem and knew right away I had to share it with the viewers of my blog. It's an environmental poem that focuses more on the terror and repercussions of global warming, urbanization and destruction of natural resources. It is full of frightening imagery that might just scare you into recycling. Take a look.

The End Before the End by Steven Montanez

Sip Sip Sip
Straw draws empty juice box slurps.
Pump Pump Pump
Wells drain dry and fish flop to a suffocating death of fresh air.
Bleed Bleed Bleed
Bullet wounds from rounds of mortar and shrapnel carve carcasses into desert sands.
Burn, Burn, Burn
Forests bare as an ocean is of trees.
Blink, Blink, Blink
Open your eyes to a forest washed up on shore, cemented over by a sky-scraping citadel urban continent super machine.
Grind Grind Grind
Gears of repentance, sorrow in greasy lubricated greed churning turbines.
Run Run Run
Monsters are coming. Out of the woods? No, woods are no longer scary.
SShh
Silence lurks, uneasy, queasy creeping up on you like a slow moving car following you down a street of tucked in houses sleeping under the faint glow of the moon through the ominous overcast thick as smoke stacks from coal scorching industrial cast-iron.
Help Help Help
Babies’ cries sets off fire alarms and wake death.
Please Please Please
Come home, the phone rings relentless,
Fires blaze fierce outside, faucets turn, there is no water.
Carry the world’s babies to the front door, a tree limbs split,
Gash open roofs like the crash of God’s ax.
Steam rises off the floor, sizzles, carbon dioxide sneaks in through holes in the house.
Cold Cold Cold
Temperature plummets like a skydiver with a grand piano on his back.
Shiver, quiver in the corner, curl the blanket unfurl, unravel
Acidic gravel pushes up through square black and white kitchen floor tiles,
Skin like frost bite ran under scolding water.
Quick Quick Quick
Think fast as clouds collapse heavy with nuclear man-made elements,
Inflamed chunks of sun soar through the opaque atmosphere,
Ice caps crumble like stale bread,
Gigantic gaseous Saturn sits upon the heart of the Atlantic afraid to drown.
Whales flung from the furious sea atop of suburban backyard tear drop pools,
Radiation eats the red sky as it digests into blustery force-pull twisting tornados,
Sweep up debris left along edges of earthquake faults filled in with molten lava.
The part of a movie where the action slows to a freeze and melancholy music is played,
The credits roll…

Copyrights to Steven Montanez. Please do not use without permission.

Be one with nature. Watch "Into the Wild."

Into the Wild is based on a true story of a high school grad who gives up all his possessions, empties out his bank account to feed the hungry and moves to the Alaskan wild to feel the true essence of nature. I would recommend this film to anyone who has a love for outdoor adventures, gorgeous scenery and the beauty & danger of nature. It's Rated R for language and some nudity. But darn it is it good. It's officially part of the Green Scene because the young man is brave enough to leave a life of luxury to become one with nature. We should all learn a little something from him.

Fiji releases carbon footprint

We all know how bad bottled water is toward the environment. It takes nearly seven times as much water to construct the water bottle than it does to fill it. We are told in green articles to get rid of the bottled water, invest in a water purifier and refill a water jug to keep you hydrated.

Now, Fiji is reacting to the water bottle scare and is the first water bottle company to release its carbon footprint.

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact your activites have on the environment and amount of greenhouse emissions produced, measured in carbon dioxide.

Whether or not it's a marketing ploy, Fiji has received Green awards from Elle because they have reduced carbon emissions in the bottling and shipping process.


FijiGreen.com's blog reads:

"Last November, FIJI Water promised to reduce its carbon footprint by 25% by 2010. In the past few months, we’ve taken a number of steps toward that goal:
We’ve started producing the 1.5 L product with an initial 7% reduction in packaging.
We’ve reduced by 70% the amount of manufacturing waste materials taken to landfills.
We’re using more fuel-efficient trucks in Fiji to transport the product from plant to port, resulting in a 50% reduction in fuel usage.
By optimizing our logistics, we’ve reduced trucking miles from warehouses to distributors by 26% on average."

Their carbon footprint can be viewed HERE.

What do you think? I know this is, in retrospect, is just good PR. But should we applaud them? Or rally together to discard the construction of bottled water altogether? I don't mind refilling my pink container over and over. Do you? Or are you just trying to feel better about the products you buy?
Where does the line get drawn?? You decide.

MMM Beer...

Can beer be Green? No - I'm not talking about the packaging of Heineken or Dos XX.

I'm talking about organic beer. Yes, it exists due to organic farming. When you buy organic beer you are supporting a farming system that uses fewer pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, which in hand is good for the environment.
Organic farming produces fewer greenhouse gases (like CO2), increases species diversity and conserves water (to name a few things).

But be aware that just because a beer is organic does not necessarily mean it is brewed with organic hops. Hops create the aroma, flavor and bitterness of beer. And according to the USDA, non-organic hops can be included in organic beer. If you want a 100% organic beer buy from local breweries that use true organic hops. Buying locally will also help the environment because it will reduce shipping and greenhouse gas emissions. So grab an organic beer and feel especially good for drinking it. Then, don't forget to recycle the glass when your done. Cheers!

In case you live under a rock

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Why watch a horror film when you can watch what the horror of climate change unfolding before your very eyes? This film will leave you lost confused and hopefully motivated to change what policy makers should have done years ago.
Do your part. You don't have to change your entire life just adjust to it a little.

The film is mostly made of interviews and strikingly powerful images (as you saw with the trailer above). If you are skeptical that the world's climate is changing this fast - think again. It is.

Pass it on. The film is PG and your never too young to join in the efforts.

This is real. I don't know what else to say...

Dell's in the Green Scene

Dell headquarters located in Austin is now powering all of their 2.1 million square feet with green power. Austin's waste management landfill that turns gas-to-energy and wind farms fuel the headquarters with green energy.
As of today, Dell is the leading green energy user in the city of Austin's GreenChoice power program.

So far Dell has done a lot of good for the city of Austin. They've provided a lot of jobs and are meeting the city's GreenChoice requirements.

To see the press release go here.

Austin Monthly - The Green Issue

Austin Monthly's Second Annual Green Issue is out on stands!
With cover stories like "50 Ways to Reduce your Eco-Footprint," "Mad Green Scientists" and "Enviro-Art" it definitely wins best issue on my list.

I started getting Austin Monthly this past year and it quickly turned into one of my favorite magazines. It has great design, GREAT photography (you need to check out last month's issue) and great topic stories. In this issue you will find one of the most important stories you will ever read (How to reduce your Eco-Footprint) and lots of other fun things like reusing vintage threads or finding the best vegan eateries via bike.
The issue graciously recognizes Austin for being one of the greenest cities in the nation. It also mentions a lot of things I've talked about on this blog such as: Austin energy programs, recycling awards and city vehicles turning Hybrid.

Definitely buy a copy or browse through one at a bookstore.
You will find handy tips like this:

#16 on the list: Stop your Junk Mail
Save trees. Go to dmachoice.org, click on DMA Choice, then "Remove my name from those lists."

Enjoy :]

Free Ink Refills on Earth Day

I just found out that The University Coop is refilling ink cartridges for free on Earth Day, April 22nd.

I will definitely be in line to get my free ink. It's ridiculous how much of that stuff I go through -- thanks to all those 10 page research papers I've had this semester. errrr.

The Ink Cartridge Refilling Station is located in the Electronics Department of the Co-op. I'm not too sure where that is but I'm sure if you ask someone they will gladly help you.

Refilling your ink cartridge makes a step closer to being part of the Green Scene. It's a waste that more than 1.3 billion ink cartridges are sold world-wide when they can just be refilled! You will be helping save the world and save your wallet. Usually, refilling black ink at the coop is about $10 and refilling color ink is about $15. That's a whole lot cheaper than buying new ones.

Besides refilling your ink, the new refilling station at the Coop will:
- electronically test your cartridge
- completely evacuate old ink
- thoroughly clean the print head
- replenish the ink supply
- and perform a print test

Next blog I will talk about Austin's Monthly new Green Issue. I LOVE IT! Go pick up a mag before they are all gone!

Green Bank coming in June

Wouldn't it be nice if your bank had the same green goal as you did? I know I am tired of my bank wasting papers through mail when I have told them specifically to e-mail me instead.

One Earth Bank, coming to Austin in June, shares some common goals with you. Don't get me wrong, it is still a profit driven financial institution but the green bank will offer paperless banking solutions and green products like an energy efficient mortgage. It will work with developers to explore ways to profit green projects, encourage online transactions to minimize car trips and more. The new bank will offer full financial services to both individuals and business, integrating social and environmental sensibilities. Their unique approach will lend depositor's funds to increase individual, social and environmental health and wellness. Their goal is to create beneficial banking for both people and the planet.

Whether this is just a marketing angle or not, it's a new business model way to improve the environment.

The new site of One Earth Bank will be
611 S. Congress Avenue, Suite 340
Austin, TX 78704
(512)707-0886