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November 26, 2008

10 Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving Tips

Posted by Melinda under General | Tags: |
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1.  Fly / Travel less - Flying is one of the greatest contributors to climate change.  Consider staying home for the holidays and/or encouraging your guests to carpool or take the train.  Offset your carbon emissions if flying is the only option.

2.  Leftover food - Take your Thanksgiving leftovers to a local shelter.  Or pass out turkey/tofurkey sandwiches to those in need the next day.  Not everyone experiences the joys of holiday leftovers!  Spread the wealth.

3.  Go easy on turkey, chicken, ham, etc. - Focus on eco-friendly vegetarian side dishes or organic meats.  Green Bean Casserole is where it’s at!

4.  Decorate with organic flowers, branches, and dried plants. Find a florist who recycles and uses local sources.

5.  Offer organic and local beverages. From apple cider to wine and beer, you have plenty of organic drinks to choose from.

6.  Ditch the Paper - Ditch the disposable dinnerware and use the real thing.  Cloth napkins are a nice touch.  Guests will be impressed!

7.  Autumn Leaves - Rake up your leaves and use them in your centerpiece decoration.  They also make excellent drink coasters!

8.  Soy Candles - Turn off the lights, and light up some all natural soy candles around your house.  Sets the mood while saving energy!

9.  Turn down the heat - More people in your house means more body heat.  You can turn down your thermostat a few degrees — nobody will notice, especially if they are filling up on warm food and wine.

10.  Avoid the Holiday Shopping - As Felicia stated in a previous blog post, consider giving “personal services” (i.e. baby sitting, car wash, house painting, etc.) this holiday season.  Avoid driving to the mall the day after Thanksgiving.

 

November 25, 2008

Filling the Glass, aka Angus in the News Take 2

Posted by spfpdx under Climate Change, General, Good to Know, Renewable Energy
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No doubt the worldwide economic slowdown is having an impact everywhere. It’s a critical time for us all on a variety of fronts, and the “green” economy is not immune.

So for those of us who are as concerned with getting back below 350 as we are with getting back above 10,000, it’s particularly imperative that we be “glass half full” and redouble our efforts and focus our goals.

To that end, Angus had a great guest opinion piece in Monday’s Oregonian, Seizing our chance in the midst of crisis. Well worth the read if you have a moment.

For a look at the wider world view as politicians gear up for the next UN climate meeting in Poland next week, be sure to also read this piece which appeared in the New York Times on Monday, Slump May Limit Moves on Clean Energy.

 

November 25, 2008

Give Clean Energy, Get a Solar Car Kit

Posted by Melinda under General | Tags: , |
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From now until December 31st, all purchases of $160 or more of BEF Carbon Offsets will receive a FREE solar car kit . These solar car kits are one of the more popular activities that we provide to the students and teachers in our national Solar 4R Schools program to encourage students to build solar-powered cars of their own design and to demonstrate the importance of renewable energy. Now you can give this educational gift to others — It’s fun for the whole family!

Solar Car not your thing? Donate your car to our Solar 4R Schools program in an effort to promote clean energy to kids across our country.


 

November 21, 2008

Christmas wrap….

Posted by margienw under General
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OK, I know this sounds dorky, but my grandmother used to collect all the Christmas paper after the present-opening pandemonium had subsided and store it for next year’s use.  She proudly stated that she never did have to buy paper to wrap presents.

But my mother one-upped her.  She always wrapped our Christmas presents in brown paper bags (no ribbon, no tape!).  I never knew whether it was part of her waste-elimination and reuse nature, or she was just too busy to do anything else!  But I’ll tell you, there’s nothing like a brown paper bag to make me salivate!

So what about wrapping a gift in a reusable canvas bag and give two gifts at the same time?

 

November 19, 2008

Holiday Tips for Green Progressives

Posted by fphillips123 under General, Good to Know, Staff Communication | Tags: , , , , , |
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My family and I started a new tradition last year. We all participated in the Advent Conspiracy in order to get back to the real meaning of Christmas.  Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption. I don’t believe that giving of gifts is ‘bad’, but I do acknowledge that the commercialization of the holiday has gotten a little out of hand. So our family takes 25% of our Christmas budget that normally would have been spent on gifts and we donate it to Living Water International for the specific purpose of providing clean drinking water to those in dire need in rural Africa. It feels really good to give that gift!

This year we’re planning on including a lot of ‘personal services’ on our lists instead of ‘things’.  My sister and brother-in-law have ‘babysitting’ and ‘car washes’ on their list.  I’ve got ‘help painting my house’ on mine.  Ooooo, I hope Santa thinks I was good this year!

 

November 18, 2008

Conscientious Business Stories and a Tale of Two Green Jackets

Posted by spfpdx under General, Good to Know | Tags: , |
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Sure it’s unconventional, but a company can be a tool for environmental change and make terrifically cool clothes, too. A few of us BEF’ers were fortunate to attend the Opportunity Green conference in Los Angeles last week. It was a really informative few days with an especially great keynote speech from one of our heroes, Rick Ridgeway from Patagonia. The conference put his speech up on their site, so I’ve included it here. It’s almost a half hour so let it load and settle in.

It also seemed like a good time to share with you, the world, a special recurring feature all of us here in the Portland BEF office enjoy regularly — Michele’s cooler-than-Kermit, green Patagonia jacket. She loves that jacket and wears it all the time. I personally also love that jacket and I am quite jealous of it–green with envy you might say.

I have my own green, weather-proof jacket for our many rainy days. Mine is from a solid, recreational clothing retailer based in Maine, and my jacket’s company, like all conscientious outdoor retailers, is committed to environmental stewardship, too. I love my jacket but it’s simply not quite as cool, or as bright, as Michele’s. See for yourself…

Michele's: some jackets are cool
mine: some are just warm

 

November 12, 2008

Eco-kids: Reaching Them Early

Posted by fphillips123 under General, Good to Know
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For the past two years I’ve volunteered for a local literacy program, helping kids in kindergarten and first grade who were struggling with their reading skills. I was able to select the school I volunteered at but, being new to Portland, I wasn’t familiar with or connected to any local schools. So I made my selection based on school name alone and chose a school that seemed to combine the two things closest to my heart- kids and environmental conservation. I started reading with kids at Sunnyside Environmental School and my eyes were opened to a whole new way of educating our children.

Naturally, the curricula at Sunnyside meets all the state standards for education but what is special is that it does so with a constant eye toward sustainability and social justice. These principles permeate everything they do at Sunnyside and they’re reflected in the kids, even the youngest among them.

This became obvious in the hour that I spent with my reading buddies each week. There were several hundred books from which the kids could choose, but it wasn’t uncommon for them to select books about animals or conservation. One day my reading pal, Trinity, a beautiful little first grader, asked me to read three books that she selected: Environments of Sharks, Legend of Martin Luther King and the Tragedy of the Exxon Valdez. That’s some pretty heavy reading for a six year old! But she seemed genuinely interested in each story and we had a great time talking about the messages that each held.

I was especially happy to talk with her about the Exxon Valdez oil spill since I was in Alaska shortly after the spill and observed the tragedy first hand. It was amazing how interested this little girl was in knowing about the animals and how some of them were rescued. We talked about how the oil seeped into the smallest crevices on the shore and about how the otters and waterfowl were drenched with the sticky sludge. We talked about how the accident happened and about the special people that took many months out of their lives to help in the clean-up effort. As she stroked the picture of the oil covered otter on the cover of the book and told me how sad it was, I knew that Sunnyside was doing a good thing.

There aren’t many schools out there that hold such a strong commitment to teaching kids about sustainability and environmental justice. Sunnyside is truly special. But there are a lot of ways that we can help our kids learn to respect the planet and become sensitive to the need to preserve, conserve and restore. Dan Chiras’ book, Eco-Kids: Raising Children Who Care for the Earth, is a great place for parents to start when it comes to teaching kids in a positive and inspiring way. (www.newsociety.com) There are also a whole host of kids’ games like Xeko, Family Pastimes and Beautiful Place that teach kids- even when they don’t know it!

So I guess my point is this…it’s never too early to start instilling the values of conservation, sustainability and social justice in our kids. In doing so, we will send them into the world well equipped to carry on the work that many of us have started.

 

October 30, 2008

Molalla High School Goes Solar!

Posted by dave o under General
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Hey folks, check out the great video the students at Molalla High School put together…

 

October 30, 2008

Green Power Awards

Posted by marilynrpdx under General, Renewable Energy, Solar 4R Schools | Tags: , , , , |
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Did you see the list of EPA/DOE Green Power Award winners? Again, BEF is associated with some winners: WhiteWave Foods and Oregon State University. Congratulations! 

 

Also, check out the photos of some of our suppliers and solar projects in our Flickr stream to the right.

 

October 21, 2008

Of Wind Farms and Solar Arrays

Posted by jackhardypdx under General | Tags: , , , |
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We made the TV news in Yakima! As part of our educational outreach with the Solar 4 R Schools program that Dave blogged about, we’re happy that two local TV stations, the ABC and NBC affiliates both sent reporters to cover the story. The draw for them was access to teachers who intend to use the information in their science classes. See the photos of the behind-the-scenes work of the TV reporters. Also check out the link to the video and/or the transcript of the stories that aired.

The NBC affiliate, KNDO-TV aired a story about the event. Below is a quote from Dave Lettero:

“The Bonneville Environmental Foundation sponsored today’s trips to the Ellensburg solar array and the Wild Horse wind farm.  The Foundation is not just showing teachers how to teach kids about solar or wind power, they are showing them how to make it fun.” You can read the full text here:

Ellensburg-Area Teachers Tour Renewable Energy Facilities

http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=9164959&nav=menu484_2_10

 

The ABC affilliate KAPP-TV 35 aired a story on the 11 p.m. news. Although the video is not linked to their Web site, the transcript is below:

The Ellensburg area has become a leader in clean energy production. Today local teachers got a lesson on how to bring it to the classroom. Our Lindsay Watts reports.

The Ellensburg area is rich in fuel, but you don’t need a drill to find it. Residents have both wind and solar energy right at their power outlets.

David Lettero, Bonneville Environmental Foundation: “We were excited to work with the City of Ellensburg. Ellensburg has the first community supported renewable energy project in the county.”)

It’s what prompted one environmental group to come to town today. Members met with local teachers to help them teach clean energy. The first stop—Ellensburg’s solar site. Energy from the panels go directly into city power lines…residents who help pay for it, get that money deducted from their power bills.

 Gary Nystedt, Ellensburge Resource Manager: “Its a great opportunity now for teachers to expand this into their science classes.”

 Next stop was the Wild Horse Wind farm about 20 miles east of the city. It produces enough energy to power 55,000 households a year.        

 Carla Ketchum, Elementary school teacher, “I’m learning everyday more about clean energy in our area and the more I know the more I can relate to kids.”

Later the group would get to see some hands on activities to use in classroom. 

Lindsay Watts: “They’ll get to try out things like this solar powered car to see the sun’s energy in action.”

The big idea is for kids to apply what they learn. The clean energy job market is growing by leaps and bounds.

Ketchum: “The kids I have today this is going to be such an opportunity and its so exciting for them

Roger Hume, Ellensburg High School teacher: “I’m looking for one of our students to be able to make really good efficient energy out of the sun or maybe some other form of energy we haven’t thought of.”

Because its all about getting the wheels turning. In Ellensburg, Lindsay Watts KAPP-KVEW local news.

 

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