Oprah's Influence on My Green Job

Oprah Winfrey taught me a lot. Her show first aired when I was sixteen years old, and the world was a different place. In general, mainstream Americans weren’t thinking globally. The “Me” generation and yuppies were “in,” and everyone I knew considered Madonna’s “Material Girl” an acceptable anthem.

Oprah was as pop culture as anyone, but the pulse of her message was others-centric. She cared about other peoples’ problems, and was ever-patient in explaining why the rest of us should, as well. She sent cameras into places and situations we would have never chosen to see, but we followed her into heartbreaking stories to find ourselves emerging braver, stronger and more confident after crying another’s tears and absorbing both their pain and their triumph.

Oprah let blessings flow through her, and demonstrated the simple act of sharing in everything she did. She shared her friends, her knowledge, her struggles, and her wealth.

Though not a biological mother, Oprah taught us how to mother. We watched her nurture youngsters around the world, as she constantly reminded us that society has an obligation to our children. ..all our children. What we desire for our own children, we should desire for all children. It is that lesson I will carry with me always, and what drives me to do the work I do with the Go Green Initiative. It’s not enough to prepare our children for the future; we must prepare the future for our children. Oprah showed us how to open our hearts, minds and arms to embrace the most vulnerable among us. She made me believe we can all make a difference.

Thank you, Oprah, for twenty-five years of sisterhood and inspiration. You brought out the best in all of us, and the world is better place because of you. I hope you see your fingerprints in the work of the women you have touched.

If you would like to watch my favorite “green” video clips from the Oprah Winfrey show, click here. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PLA8C9B6330D832724

Why Oprah says “it’s easy being green”: http://www.oprah.com/world/Its-Easy-Being-Green_1

Oprah’s Green Resources: http://www.oprah.com/packages/going-green.html

My work in China is Greener than Ever!

I've been spending more and more time in China since 2007, when I was first asked to help the China Entrepreneur Club develop standards for green companies. This year I spent Earth in Chengdu, an area that was hit very hard by a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake in May 2008. Here I'm pictured with Chinese mothers and grandmothers who lost their homes to that quake, and are now in new housing built by the Sichuan provincial goverment. You can see more photos from my trip by checking out my Flickr stream. And you can read a full report of the work I've been doing in China by clicking here.

Get Green Video Contest

By guest blogger, David Lanham, National Enviornmental Education Foundation


Americans account for roughly five percent of the world’s population, but use around twenty five percent of the world’s energy. With a majority of our energy resources coming from the use of fossil fuels, that’s a particularly substantial carbon footprint! If the rest of the world consumed as much per capita, we would need over five Earths to support the world’s current population.

Since the beginning of industrialization, worldwide energy consumption per capita has increased nine-fold. During the same time period, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by about 36%.

As a result of these factors, scientists are now pushing for a worldwide decrease in carbon emissions. Reducing your carbon footprint not only conserves energy and natural resources, it decreases the negative impacts that traditional behaviors have on the environment. In essence, your actions leave behind a cleaner and more sustainable Earth.

As the next generation of leaders, teens today have a better understanding of the environment and its importance than any other generation. Planet Connect is hoping to help teens become more aware of how they can make a lasting impact.

Planet Connect has just announced the Get Green Video Contest. We want you to make a creative video that shows how you are reducing your carbon footprint – whether it’s biking, using less water, walking more, etc. Prizes include an Apple MacBook, an iPad and more!

We know you can make a difference. Here’s your chance to inspire others. You can watch our video commercial at youtube.com/pcgetgreen and read the contest rules at planet-connect.org/getgreen

Are pizza boxes and microwave popcorn poisoning my kids???

Sometimes it's tough to know where to go for the best information on how to keep our kids safe and healthy, but this week on Go Green Radio, we've found an expert with the answers. Jennifer Taggart’s new book, “Smart Mama’s Green Guide”, is a candid and credible resource for child advocates who want to reduce children’s exposure to toxic chemicals. You may be surprised to learn that products you use everyday in your home contain chemicals capable of causing health problems for your kids. Jennifer’s background as an environmental engineer and lawyer, coupled with her passionate devotion to her own – and all – kids, provide the perfect background for her expert advice. Tune into Go Green Radio this Friday, June 26, from 9-10 a.m. Pacific on http://www.voiceamerica.com/. If you miss the live show, you can listne to the podcast anytime by visiting: www.tinyurl.com/kwnr9j. You can learn more about the Smart Mama at www.thesmartmama.com!

Go Green Initiative Schools Save Natural Resources

In this photo (courtesy of Alan Greth Photography) you see a student at the very first Go Green Initiative school, Walnut Grove Elementary, bringing recyclables from home to school. The local waste hauler, Pleasanton Garbage Service, pays the school a significant portion of the market value of the recyclables the school collects. To learn how to negotiate a similar arrangement with your local waste hauler, download the Planning Guide from the homepage of our website, and see the Appendix entitled, "Negotiating with Your Waste Hauler."

Each quarter, our top-notch schools turn in QPR's (quarterly progress reports), so that the Go Green Initiative family of schools can keep track of just how much great work they are accomplishing. Our latest recycling numbers are incredible!

Here's what our schools have kept out of their local landfills:

• 7,454,879 lbs. of paper


• 873,756 lbs. of cardboard


• 95,831 lbs. of aluminum


• 160,954 lbs. of plastic


• 589,842 lbs. of mixed recyclables


• 242,406 lbs. of food waste
  

The environmental benefit to all that recycling is:

• conservation of 1.4 million gallons, or 33,720 barrels, of oil


• conservation of 26 million gallons of water


• conservation of over 63 billion BTU's of electricity


• conservation of 3,721 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions


• conservation of 13,738 cubic yds. of landfill space

Should Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear Energy?

Normally, I’m a real stickler for hosting Go Green Radio live on Fridays from 9-10 am PST, but this week, I’ll be celebrating Good Friday with my family at that time, so we pre-recorded the show this morning.

My guest, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore from Irvine, California has become one of the nation’s leading advocates for lifting the moratorium on building new nuclear power plants. He’s been featured on numerous TV and radio shows, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle and many more publications. As America moves to limit our carbon emissions to the greatest extent possible, can we do so without nuclear energy? Or is nuclear our only viable, domestic energy option for a clean, green future?

Assemblyman DeVore did a FANTASTIC, and thoroughly educational, interview with me on this topic. Be sure to tune in on http://www.voiceamerica.com/ this Friday at 9 am to hear what he has to say. If you can’t listen to the show Friday morning, don’t worry! You can catch the podcast at the following link: http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica/vshow.aspx?sid=1303

Showbiz Icon on Go Green Radio

Think about your favorite ABC Afterschool special, and chances are, my guest on Go Green Radio either wrote it or produced it. Virginia Carter began her career as a physicist in the aerospace industry and in the Air Force. But thanks to a serendipitous friendship with the wife of Norman Lear, Virginia has become an incredible force for good and social change through media. She was awarded an Emmy and two Peabody Awards for her work on the immensely popular American situation comedies All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, The Facts of Life, and Diff’rent Strokes. She assisted in the production of the top five most highly rated television shows in the United States during the 1980s. Virginia now does pro bono work for Population Media Center, which aims to improve the health and well-being of people around the world. http://www.populationmedia.org/

This was one of my favorite interviews in the past year of Go Green Radio. It was truly an honor to talk to Virginia, and we’ll have her on again soon. In the meantime, check out the podcast of our conversation at: http://www.modavox.com/voiceamerica/vepisode.aspx?aid=37510

Twitter + Spunky Intern = Interview on Urban Re:Vision

This week’s episode of Go Green Radio is another Twitter success story. Derek Gordon is an intern for a super cool project called Urban Re:Vision. Derek found me on Twitter, and yada, yada, yada…I’m interviewing one of the premiere green architects in the biz, Eric Corey Freed. Eric is based in San Francisco, and has founded more entities than I’ve got fingers to count them. His company, organicARCHITECT, creates sustainable structures, from large developments to single family dwellings. With more than 15 years in green design, Eric can tell us what it was like to be green even before there was a Nobel Peace Prize in the mix! Don’t miss this interview with award-winning architect, Eric Corey Freed!

Go Green Radio airs live on Fridays 9-10 am PST/noon-1pm EST on http://www.voiceamerica.com/. If you miss it live, you can catch the podcast here.