Leonardo DiCaprio's "The 11th Hour" is a documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity.
The mission of our community is to inspire action at every level: from
individual action, up through our communities, to the state, national
and international level. The actions are all shifting our civilization
to a sustainable future. Let's work and take action together. The time is now. The hope is you. Let's begin.
10 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP CLEAN THE AIR IN YOUR AREA
We offer the following suggestions on how you can join the South Coast Air Quality Management District in “Cleaning the Air That We Breathe.” Together, we are making a difference.
1) Motor vehicles are responsible for more than half of all smog-forming emissions. When buying your next vehicle, consider choosing one of the lowest-polluting models available. For more information, go to www.cleanairchoices.org
2) AQMD relies on feedback from businesses and the general public to help design its regulations and programs. Help shape the region’s path to clean air by joining the AQMD Clean Air Congress. For more information, call 1-800-CUT-SMOG.
3) Some older vehicles and those that are improperly maintained emit at least 20 times more pollution than newer models in good working order. Report smoking vehicles and suspected air pollution violations by calling 1-800-CUT-SMOG.
4) Vehicles in the Southland traveled 336 million miles in 200, and the increased congestion slowed travel to an average of 38 mph on freeways and arterial streets. Help cut pollution by driving less. Consider carpooling to work one day a week or more. Combine shopping errands into one trip or shop by phone, mail or the Internet. Also drive smart by avoiding “jack rabbit” starts, obeying the speed limit and using cruise control to maintain a steady speed.
5) Dry cleaners in the region emit about 850 tons a year of a toxic chemical called perchloroethylene. Try non-toxic alternatives to dry cleaning such as professional wet cleaning.
6) During the energy crisis, Californians did a better than expected job at conservation. If you haven’t already, choose from the many options available to conserve energy—and save money—such as using compact fluorescent light bulbs, using the microwave to cook small meals and buying energy-efficient appliances when you replace old ones.
7) Painting homes and other structures causes more than 50 tons per day of smog-forming pollutants—five times the amount from all the oil refineries in the South Coast of California. Read paint labels and choose coatings that contain little or no smog-forming pollutants, identified as volatile organic compounds or VOCs.
8) Energy needed for summertime air conditioning boosts power plant emissions. Plant a tree to help shad your home and cool it naturally.
9) In one year of operation, one older gasoline-powered lawn mower pollutes as much as a new car driven 86,000 miles. Help cut pollution by purchasing an electric mower when you replace your gasoline-powered model.
10) While many Southern Californians enjoy a summer cookout, traditional barbecues can be a significant source of air pollution. A simple solution is to replace your old barbecue with a natural gas grill. Some local utilities even offer rebates when purchasing gas grills.
This is where I've started.... What to do next!? I work at Starbucks and would like to switch out our cubs, etc for the sugar cane ones or something that won't decay and rot the earth but turn in to soil again..need to find more info... bummer I could only pick three..
I never take plastic bags
I have a low-flush toilet
Re-using
Almost 100% green home, except low-power showerheads
Any little thing I can..and trying to show others
Our planet is choking on plastic and plastic bags are a huge part of the
problem. Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags
per year. This translates to about a million bags every minute across the
globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth. You can make a
difference by pledging to be plastic bag free.
I guess you could say I found something that I just feel the need to yell about. I know I'm probably sounding a bit redundant here but I have to talk about this paper towel project again. It just dawned on me today as I refilled the paper-towel holder in the kitchen that it has been sometime since I've posted an update. So I started this project back in May. Starting with a $57 investment in reusable kitchen rags a shelf and a $12~12 roll case of Bounty Select-a-size. In the last 5 months we have managed to only use 7 of those original 12 rolls. Here's the kicker folks, we would have gone through nearly 60 rolls, costing around $60, at our rate of normal consumption prior to the start of this project.
Eureka! The project has paid for itself and we have 5 rolls left in the storage room. At this rate we could reduce our paper-towel usage to just 3 cases a year. I think that's awesome. And believe me, I'm not suggesting the end of paper-towel use here folks, just a helpful, more renewable, longer lasting alternative. Paper-towels will always have a home in our kitchen, it's just that they have a different role now, namely the nastier of the jobs. Like raw food clean up and cat puke..gross!
My Wife did the laundry today. As I was putting the kitchen rags up on their shelf I got to thinking about how easy it was to make the transition. I'm not sure about other peoples paper-towel usage but I suppose we would have been an example of a high usage family. Our new towels are all still in great shape and I could honestly see us getting many years use out of them. That's a lot of savings and even more in the end as the price of everything seems to be getting ever more expensive.
I think what we need to do is get some people on board with this idea. Wouldn't it be cool to see major paper towel companies start marketing this to the masses. They would even get the benefit of being able to transition there production away from the Tree based paper market to a more sustainable and faster growing cotton crop or dare I say Hemp. Well, maybe one day.
One another note, I feel the need to give shout out to my new hometown of Warren, Pa up in the northwest part of the state. The city has recently started a very solid recycling program or should I say expanded upon there system. Warren is now recycling 5 major groups of recyclables free of charge to all city residents. They even provided free delivery of free containers to keep your stuff in. The groups are Paper, Plastic, Tin-Aluminum and two types of glass. I do wish they did more in the way of plastics as they only except types 1 and 2. Man was I surprised to here how hard it can be to find places that take all the other types of plastic. I've noticed that since we received our recycle containers a few months back that we have reduced our throw aways considerably. Where as we would generally have 3 to 4 filled trash bags a week we have now gotten consistently down to 1 to 2 bags.
These are just drops in a bucket I know and the bucket is big....Lord let it rain.
Use "Project Licht 'n Stein" as an examplary showcase for education on how everyone can easily shave 40, 60, or 80% of their energy and water use and make the use of renewable energies practical and feasible.
Action Goals:
Present the Project Licht 'n Stein story to a total of 1,000 people by the end of 2008
[900 as of October 2008; One more presentation scheduled]
Show the House to 850 people by the end of 2008
[750 visitors as of October 2008; one more Open House Day planned]
Present the Project Licht 'n Stein story to 1,000 people in 2009
Show the House to 500 people in 2009
Front page article on a local newspaper
[Front page article in Bluff Country Reader]
Front page article on a regional "subscription" newspaper (e.g., Rochester PostBulletin)
[Invitation to submit a full-page article for GreenSpace section on November 4 in the Rochester PostBulletin]
Front page article in a state-wide newspaper (e.g., StarTribune)
Feature on a local TV station
[2 1/2 minute feature on local ABC6News station]
Feature on a national TV program
Write a book about the experience of building Project Licht 'n Stein
Publish educational articles in the PostBulletin's GreenSpace columns.
Present at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer, WI in 2009
Present at the Living Green Expo in the Twin Cities in 2009
Design and build a modern home with 21st-century amenities that uses only a fraction of the average US home's energy.
Project Licht 'n Stein is an off-the-grid, off-the-furnace, off-the-well year-round residence in southeastern Minnesota with a wind generator & photovoltaic cells with batteries, passive solar design with radiant heating and rainwater harvesting. It successfully combines a modern design with 21st-century comfort. With a less than $10 monthly utility bill, this house will save $300,000 over the next 25 years while being virtually maintenance free!
In August 2006—after two years of dreaming, researching, designing, and planning followed by 11 months of construction management and lots of sweat-equity—Christian Milaster moved into his “off-the-grid”, “off-the-well”, and “off-the-furnace” house. The Passive House, dubbed "Project Licht 'n Stein", uses 90% less electricity than the average American household yet offers "21st century comfort" in the form of a washing machine, dishwasher, garage door openers, wireless internet, a whole-house audio system and a (planned) home theater. Additionally the three heating systems of the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house are free from fossil fuels.
Since moving in, over 425 people have toured the house on “open house days” and Christian has given his engaging and entertaining presentations to over 800 people since November 2006.
For more information visit the website at www.lichtnstein.org or contact Christian at 11thhour@lichtnstein.org.
On October 26, 2008 at the Castle of the Knights in Chicopee Ma. we will hold an awareness event open to anyone who is interested in learning how climate change will directly affect our families and actions we can take to make a difference. We will present a screening of "The 11th Hour." followed by a community discussion were guests will be given an opportunity to express there concerns, solutions, and ideas that came about from the film. Dr. Carsten Braun from the geography and regional planing department of Westfield State College has volonteered his time to answer any questions our guests may have. Everyone is welcome!!!!! Please contact amy_stiles@comcast.net for details!!!!
Construire en équipe une présentation informelle pour sensibiliser
le public sur l'urgence d'agir à propos du réchauffement climatique.
Cette présentation serait par la suite présentée en équipe. Tout le
Québec est visé.
Language not an issue: français, english, español, todos bienvenidos.
La
présentation veut toucher les gens, non les juger. On veux réveiller la
conscience humaine pour qu'elle se mette en action afin d'éviter une
catastrophe prédite.
We are peoples contributing to the
integrity of the Planet in sustaining all forms of life. Our stand for
the Planet is our first message. We plea other to take now actions that
would make a difference on global awareness about this issue.
Notre
présentation doit être crédible au niveau de la science; les données
présentées doivent se baser sur des sources vérifiables.
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Below is a screenshot of our home page showing the ECO LESSON PLAN ENGINE on the top of the page.
Directions for LESSON PLANS, go to www.greenplanetsearch.com on the top of the page it will say ECO SEARCH ENGINE.
On the right of that you will see the black which states "switch to eco lesson plans" Click It, then you will see it change to the ECO LESSON PLANS, type in your search and learn!!!
To continue to encourage people, especially parents, to green-up their lives. To make actual changes (even if it is one at a time) and to teach their children the importance of respecting our beautiful planet by demonstrating through our actions.
