Current Green Blog

This week’s “Green Caption” photo:

It was another hard decision, but we decided to go with: “Nautica? C’mon, I specifically asked for North Face!” – by BYoung

Runner up is: “This jacket with my color fur? What a fashion faux paw!” – by keithjoforever.

Every Friday we’ll announce the next weeks “Name this Picture”! We have already picked it out and can’t wait to throw it up on the blog to see what you all come up with! And remember, if you see a photo you’d like to see in this contest, send us a link in the comments section and you just might see it on our blog in the coming weeks.

This week’s photo was sent to us by Ted Rheingold, founder of Dogster. We can’t stop laughing about this one:

You know the drill, think of a creative, fun and hilarious caption to accompany this dog in a coat, and we will pick the one we like the most on Friday.

So, leave your ideas in the comments sections and we will choose a winner by the end of the week! Have fun!

(and of course…submit a photo for next week). The prize? No prize! Just the thrill of the game (oh, and you know we’ll feature the caption we fall in love with on the Green Page)

Related content:

Last week’s caption: Don’t look to your left but….

Earlier this week we posted our first ever segment of Green Captions.

We got such a huge response! Thank you, all of you, for submitting such great captions! It was very hard to narrow it down, but we came to a consensus the one we liked the best.

And the winner is: “Don’t look to your left, but I think we might be standing in a field of beehives.” - by John Lesier

The Runner-up: “My god, bee sweaters? That’s sooooo 2008.” - by Mud Baron

Every friday we’ll announce the next weeks “Name this Picture”! We have already picked it out and can’t wait to throw it up on the blog to see what you all come up with! And remember, if you see a photo you’d like to see in this contest, send us a link in the comments section and you just might see it on our blog in the coming weeks.

Today we are starting a new segment: Green Captions! Here’s how it works: every week we will throw up a weird, random, crazy, and/or interesting photo that has appeared on Current Green and it is YOUR job to think of a creative, fun and hilarious caption. This week’s photo is brought to us by abhishek25:

Leave your ideas in the comments sections and we will choose a winner by the end of the week! Have fun!

(and of course…submit a photo for next week). The prize? No prize! Just the thrill of the game (oh, and you know we’ll feature the caption we fall in love with on the Green Page)

On December 7, 2009, the Danish Ministry of Climate and Energy will gather delegates from all over the world to meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, (aka COP15). The goal of the event is to result in an “ambitious global agreement” that will include every country of the world.  The event is complex, at times confusing, so we figured the least we could do is provide a 360 degree perspective of the conference via  leading up to the event.

Joshua Wiese, program director of Adopt a Negotiator, webcams in from England to provide updates on the climate talks that have taken place in preparation for Copenhagen. As acting director of The Adopt a Negotiator project, Joshua coordinates a group of 12 dynamic young people from around the world as they track their climate negotiator throughout the process leading up to this December’s COP15. Here is what they’ve been up to.

The latest update from Bangkok – what’s new?

An update on some of the good news out of Bangkok, and, of course, some of the bad, as we get closer and closer to Copenhagen:

Lastly, Joshua talks to us about what YOU can do to pressure our world leaders to act on climate change in Copenhagen:

Joshua and his envoy are off to Barcelona for the next round of climate talks,  there are  five sessions left before the World’s leaders meet in Copenhagen for climate negotiations. To track Joshua, and his envy, you can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and of course at Adopt a Negotiator webbsite.

Related Posts:

360 Degrees of Copenhagen: Guest Post Joshua Wiese

Bangkok Climate Talks: The No B.S. Youth Report

Today’s guest post is from Temra Costa, who has over a decade of experience advocating for sustainable food systems starting with the USDA Organic Certification program in 1998. She came to California after earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree in International Agriculture with a minor in Women’s Studies, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2003, to work for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF). This is part of a series entitled From The Fields which follows the Woman’s Earth Alliance Women and Agriculture delegation on their 10 day journey through Northern India. Read more about this initiative here.

Even before the plane touches down, you can smell Delhi. It’s hard to describe – ammonia, cars, 17 million people breathing, half as many rickshaws, cumin – it’s the smell of thousands of years in the making, where modern meets ancient. And since the government has determined that “air” is a human right here, I’ve been told that it’s quality has greatly improved. But meanwhile, my lungs, eyes and senses are adjusting to the smells, fumes and the enormity of this place. Here we are, a group of 15 women from India and the U.S. to spend 10 days touring sustainable agriculture organizations and taking every form of transportation imaginable.

All of us, from Vermont, to Arizona, California, Africa and numerous parts of India are here out of more than tourism. We’re here to connect with women run sustainable agriculture organizations and to share our skills and knowledge as advocates for change. Each of us brings our skills that vary from non profit management and philanthropy, and include the diversity of writers and water harvesters. By bridging the international divide and letting the women and their organizations we meet know that we are here to support and engage with them in these issues, the world becomes a bit more palatable of a place. As it should be. With global environmental issues coming to a confluence, we have to figure out how to support localized, sustainable, food production, on a global scale, and fast. The knowledge that women in India have of seed banks, their traditional practices, their learned and passed down food growing techniques, and all of their learned tools have remained largely unrecognized by science as solutions to the global food crisis.

While the majority of food grown in India is produced by women, resources are still not flowing from the international community where it could make the most impact. With less funding than we spent on say the last election in the U.S. these women and their organizations could probably have solved their food ailments. As they stand as a special interest group of source, the FAO reports that women receive less than 2% of foreign aid. Less than 2% and they grow upwards of 80% of the food in developing countries. Obviously, we need some reform. But without hypothesizing too much, first, we are going to listen. What do they need? What are their challenges? How can we collaborate and help raise their voices?

As I adjust to this place, it’s smells, amazing food culture, and diversity of religion and organizations working for human good, I’m optimistic that the women of India already know what it takes and what the country needs. We just have to be willing to hear the message. Stay tuned…

Related Articles:

India: Women farmers ready to beat climate change with organic agriculture

Farmers in big protest rally in India: burn effigy of Monsanto

Indian farmers shun genetically modified crops for organic solutions

India’s “drought-resistant rice”

In honor of Blog Action Day, Current Green is featuring news and opinion pieces on Current’s Green channel, and featuring art and poetry on our blog. The following is what has been submitted thus far – it’s been an amazing effort and we are nothing short of inspired! Keep on blogging and keep on posting at Current Green!

Some of our Favorites so far:

An Editorial by Jasper

Giant Piano staircase for Climate Change

Veterans on a Mission: Pass a Strong Climate Bill

The Green Gambit

The Lifeboat-less Cruise Ship

Waste Not, Want Not

The Music Industry and Climate Change

Awesome Posts:

Climate’s Changing… Can You?!

Casamento eco-sustentável

What can you do for blog action day?

The Global Water Crisis: Where is Our Moral Will?

Climate Change is a Bitch

This is Our Story

The Times, They are A-Changin’

Where The River Meets the Sea

Climate Change is a Business Concern Too

Slowing Down Climate Change to Conserve our Water

One Consequence of Climate Change

Lebanon: Nature in the City

Everyone is to Blame

Bathing at the North Pole – Reality in 2050?

Little Steps; Big Fight

Climate Change and Fair Trade

Is Climate Change the New Rock n’ Roll?

Saving The Planet Begins With You

The Challenge for Art Education

Climate Change is a Reality

Small Steps for a Light Carbon Footprint

Bloggers Unite to Raise Awareness

Don’t Let Your Children Inherit a Dying Planet

Should You Be Stocking Up on Dental Floss?

Global Warming and the Vegan Diet or My Veganism Trumps your Prius

Can Man Save Mother Earth?

Blog Action Day Poems:

You Are A Life

Tomorrow Gone

BAD (Climate Change & the 15th Violent Verse)

Dalawahan

Pay the Price

Thank you to all our Current Green community members for being so active on Blog Action Day. Keep the Climate Change Blogs Coming at Current Green!

Related Links:

Buy a Prius Get Laid: (Video)

I heart global warming (video)

Twittering for Climate Change

Current Green is Featuring Climate Change Bloggers on Blog Action Day

Just wanted to let you know that co-founder, and Director, of 350.org, Bill McKibben, is going to Skype in to our online studio for an interview tomorrow. Along with Bill, we will also have May and Adam from 350.org’s Berkeley office in our studio to talk about the upcoming International Day of Climate Action happening on October 24, 2009, an event that is taking place all over the world. If you aren’t sure what the International Day of Climate Action is, take a look at the video below:

What is 350?

350 is the most important number in the world–it’s what scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Two years ago, after leading climatologists observed rapid ice melt in the Arctic and other frightening signs of climate change, they issued a series of studies showing that the planet faced both human and natural disaster if atmospheric concentrations of CO2 remained above 350 parts per million.

This is how it works: 350.org is “calling on people around the world to organize an action on October 24 incorporating the number 350 at an iconic place in their community, and then upload a photo of their event to the 350.org website.” If you have any questions for the representatives of 350.org that will be with us, leave us a comment, and we will be sure to ask Bill, Amy, or Adam!

Have you already taken a picture for 350?

If so, please submit your photos on www.current.com/green and put “350″ in the title. You’ll have a chance to have your photos featured in our online video segment with the rest of the Current Green community members. No picture yet? It’s not too late! And, if you are looking for ideas, check out 350’s top 20 pictures from last year for some great and inspiring ideas.

Related Links:

Climate Briefing with Bill McKibben and 350.org

National Day of Action Call for an End to Campus Coal

In Climate World Series, Time to Call the Bullpen

As an active member and a contributor to Current Green, I see everyday just how vibrant our community members are with postings on everything green ranging from climate change and carbon sequestration to sustainable agriculture and organic farming. While these articles and submissions are AWESOME, I often feel overwhelmed with all the “bad news” of how we are destroying our earth, or how hard it is to keep the green movement, well, moving. And while the “bad news” is pertinent, relevant, and necessary information to keep our movement going, it sometimes seems like a bucket load of beat downs.

So, in light of all our activist struggles against big oil, climate change, environmental policy, etc, I thought I would start a new segment about all the good green news out there. Good green news exists and many of our community members are keeping us up to date with all the cool green things that are going on out there. Following is some stuff that I found on Current Green and I’d love some feedback – if you find other stories, or you’ve posted something you think is great green news, let us know and leave a comment.

An issue and story that I had been following for a long time was about the town of Bundanoon in Australia. If you remember, they have become the first municipality to place a ban on bottled water. During a time where we hear over and over again just how bad bottled water is for the environment (because it is), it’s great to see a city take progressive action. It’s also sets a president for other cities all over the world to follow suit.

Now, my friends have always pinned me down as “anti-car” – and I almost take a lot of pride in that statement. Cars have overtaken San Francisco (where I live), seem to always get the right-of-way, and are not good for our environment. So, another story I find fascination is about the release of the Audi e-tron – Audi’s first hybrid electric car. I love seeing automotive companies of all walks of life, luxury, or otherwise, innovating and moving forward into the future. It not only get us moving on controlling CO2 emissions, but also might help the automotive industry.

An obsession that I am not afraid to admit, is my obsession/fascination  iPhone - yes, I am a self professed iPhone/Apple/Mac everything-aholic. I’m always searching around Current Green to see what people are talking about when it comes to Apple products and I found this one about solar powerd skins that I thought was really intriguing and I cannot wait to pick one up. You can now charge your iPhone with sun power! And what I find the coolest is that it actually stores the energy. I can now charge my phone on the windowsill while I sit at my computer. Amazing!

I see posts every week about new species on the brink of extinction, or new species added to a population watch list and it got me wondering about what is out there that is good news for our planets many species. While it is an issue that should be on any activists mind, how about the opposite of extinction: discovery. I like this post about a new lizard species found in India. The reason I like stories about new species being discovered is because it reminds us all that we need to preserve our landscapes from human intrusion (like deforestation) because there is always a possibility that something exists that we don’t even know about.

And finally, a project that is near and dear to my heart: California High Speed Rail. Now, when I say “near and dear to my heart,” it doesn’t mean that I sit on a board or have any input to the actual project, but ever since I was a little kid I have LOVED trains. I remember heading to Tilden Park in Oakland to ride the miniature steam engine trains with my father, dressing up in my conductors outfit and wearing my father out with the ten times in-a-row trips. I still love trains, and besides how totally awesome the trains look, and personal narrative and reminiscence aside, this is great news for all Californians and an awesome next step in actually getting that first shovel to hit the ground and get this project moving (which is rumored to start as early as October 2010). It also reminds me of that awesome interview Leah did with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom a few months back:

My favorite part is when Mayor Newsom says, “if we want to get people serious about the environment, then we need to get them out of their cars.” Wells said Mayor.

Some other cool things to check out: What Big Business is doing in Washington to help push a climate bill (for you Political Junkies), A Malawaian teenager brings energy to his village by building a windmill (Community member Progresshiv said it best, “Positive change through optimism and ingenuity”), 70,000 trees were planted last year by Tree Nation, and rooftop gardens are multiplying at a speedy rate in New York City (I love urban farming!). Thanks for all the community members who have posted such great stories -keep ‘em coming!

Evan Young is currently working on his M.A. in Environmental Communication at San Francisco State University and recently joined Current Green as an intern. You can email him with any comments or questions at eyoung@current.com and can find him doing updates on Facebook, Twitter and the Current Green Blog often.

Mark continues his eco-journey through Hawaii with a visit to the Honolulu Fish Auction. Mark takes us on a 4am tour of the fish auction and tour of how the tuna is cut and presented to the bidders.

You know the saying, “You have to get up PRETTY early in the morning to pull one over on me”??  Well, We DID get up at 4 AM to make it to the Honolulu Fish Auction before it started! And there was no way anyone was going to pull one over on Brooks Takenaka, the manager of the fish auction! This is one of the most unique experiences I had in Hawaii. Most people know that you can enjoy beaches, luaus and mai tais in Hawaii, but they may not know about this aspect of Honolulu which makes alot of the rest of the party possible. This is where the boats come into port and unload their catch every day, and starting a 5:30 AM, the buyers for all the restaurants in the city as well as wholesalers and reps from restaurants on the mainland and Asian countries put in their bids. Some days there are as many as 100 boats coming to port. On this morning, we had fish from just one boat, so it was clear that the prices would be dear for what fish they brought in. In this first Quick Bite, Fish Auction Manager Brooks Takenaka gives us an exclusive sneak peek behind the scenes before they let in the buyers. Brooks explains how the process has gone from a simple one to a highly technical and computerized one. That said, the basic process works the same as it always has. His staff unloads the boat and lays out all the fish according to species. For the Tuna, they cut a few core samples and lay them out so the buyers can see the color, fattiness, and general quality of each fish before bidding: After we get an exclusive sneak peek, the bell rings and they let in the buyers to do their work. We’re lucky to be there, and get to watch the action.

Learn more about Mark on his how turf: Culinary Media Network or on his podcast at ReMARKable Palate.