An Overview of the Go Green Initiative

Go Green Initiative Overview Sept 2009

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The Go Green Initiative and Maggwire.com Partner to Modernize Magazine Consumption

The Go Green Initiative and Maggwire.com announced their partnership to modernize magazine consumption for over 2 million students worldwide who are registered with the Go Green Initiative. Maggwire.com provides paperless access to the world’s most credible magazine articles, saving trees, time and money.

“I am excited to share Maggwire with our worldwide network of schools, and I believe this one website may have a tremendous impact on both learning and the environment,” says Jill Buck, founder and executive director of the Go Green Initiative. “Maggwire provides an eco-friendly, 21st century research tool for students, teachers and parents at a time when access to the highest quality magazine journalism via traditional subscriptions may be out of reach for school libraries and families affected by the economic downturn. Educators who are looking for cost-effective and environmentally responsible resources for their students will be thrilled with Maggwire.com.”

Ryan Klenovich, founder of Maggwire, says, “Younger generations are reading professional journalism less and less as they spend increasing amounts of time on social networks, playing video games and watching television. Jian Chai and I started Maggwire because we love magazines, and wanted to help the magazine industry reach the next generation of readers with a fresh, digital experience. Teachers, parents and librarians can offer Maggwire as a tool for students to research numerous topics and even comment on articles to create educational discussion forums.”

Magazine industry expert, Samir Husni, a.k.a. Mr. Magazine, welcomes Maggwire as an example of the much needed innovation in the magazine industry. He says Maggwire is, “an ambitious plan that aims to be the target destination for anyone interested in magazines and magazine articles.”

About Maggwire:

Maggwire's goal is to lead the magazine industry toward a successful digital transformation, and will become the online destination for all your magazine related needs. With over 10,000 magazine titles attracting 200 million American readers, Maggwire makes discovering magazine content a personalized experience. Utilizing social intelligence, our system recommends magazine articles you will enjoy reading from over 650 magazine titles. We are performing the most comprehensive analysis of magazine articles and readership patterns ever attempted. Our purpose is to distinguish high quality journalistic content backed by reputable publishers and eventually provide readers with the ability to purchase premium magazine content online with a single click.

More information is available online at www.maggwire.com.

Who Will Resurrect the Electric Car?...Go Green Radio knows the answer…

When Sony Pictures released the movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car,” (http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/electric.html) the U.S. political landscape was much different, and Detroit had a lot more clout than it does today. The movie honed in on a very specific moment in time when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) eliminated the production of electric vehicles in the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) initiative, and pinned the blame on D.C.-based lawsuits and lobbying in Sacramento as the reasons electric cars failed to achieve economically-feasible market share. I’d be the last person to underestimate the effects of Sacramento lobbying, but in truth, there have been two primary consumer concerns that have inhibited the success of the electric car:
· the cost of the vehicles is higher than comparably-sized gasoline cars; and
· the mileage range of a typical car battery is much shorter than the range of a gasoline tank. For lengthy trips, that would mean having to stop every 150 miles or so, finding a place to plug the car in, and waiting several hours for it to power up.

A new company called Better Place (www.betterplace.com) has the solution to both of these problems, and may be the “enabler” that finally brings electric vehicles into the mainstream. Better Place CEO, Shai Agassi, has led successful beta operations in Israel, Denmark and Australia, but as of November 2008, he started making waves in the Golden State, as he eyes California as the U.S. toehold for his company.

At a press conference in the San Francisco City Hall on November 20, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger and Mayors of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco gathered with numerous Bay Area groups and Better Place to announce plans to engage in public-private investments in electric vehicles and ‘green’ infrastructure. Better Place is not an electric car manufacturer, but could provide the necessary infrastructure with their battery “filling stations.”

This week on Go Green Radio, my guest is Jason Wolf, head of North American business development for Better Place. I’ll be asking him… if Warren Buffet’s new investment in electric cars depends on Better Places’ success; …whether or not we’ll need more nuclear plants to facilitate clean electricity for our cars; …how the geopolitical landscape will change if Better Place makes it possible for us to ‘just say no’ to Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil; and much, much more.

The episode airs live on www.VoiceAmerica.com fro 9-10 a.m. on Friday, July 24. But if you miss the live broadcast, you can listen to the podcast later at http://tinyurl.com/kwnr9j.

My interns ended up in jail!!!

When they signed up to be interns for the world’s largest environmental education program, they probably didn’t think it would land them in jail, but that is exactly what happened…and ironically, it all started with a chance encounter at Disneyland…
Over Memorial Day weekend this year, my family went to Anaheim, CA for an ice hockey tournament for my son. After a particularly grueling 7 a.m. game, we all went to Disneyland, and ended up seeing some good family friends outside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride – it’s a small world after all! (: The mom of the family told me her daughter was coming home from Princeton, and that she studies architecture. I asked her if she would like to explore “green” architecture as my intern. Thanks to the kindness of my good friend with the Alameda County’s Sheriff’s Office, we were able to schedule a tour of a very ‘green’ county jail in our area on Monday. We saw recycling in numerous locations, solar panels on the roof, a hydrogen fuel cell that was installed in 2006, and a brand new recycled water system in the jail’s laundry facility.

Here is what Lauren wrote about the visit:

Why Prisons?

This summer, I am interning under Jill Buck for the Go Green Initiative as an undergraduate student interested in Architecture and Urban Studies. Despite being relatively new to the field of architecture, I have recently decided that studying the design of prisons would be a fascinating area of study. By shaping the layout and the internal space of a prison you help to manage the environment and atmosphere of the facility, which can in turn influence how inmates behave. Simply adding more windows and increasing ceiling height creates a calmer environment. Prisons are necessary, federally funded facilities that can serve as opportunities for behavior-shaping architectural experimentation. On top of the creative opportunity that prisons might be able to provide, they also serve as exciting spaces for green architectural innovation! Prisons are high energy facilities that require 24-hours of operation, 7 days a week. With regulations that demand high lighting and large amounts of water consumption they serve as black holes for energy resources; sucking up thousands of dollars in energy. By combining intelligent design with green techniques we can create facilities that are energy efficient and relatively calm. Simple things, such as increasing the number of windows in a facility, help to lower energy consumption by increasing the use of natural light. We recently saw such innovation at the Alameda County Jail, where administration is learning to save money by retrofitting their facility with solar panels and clean energy sources such as the Hydrogen Fuel Cell system. I do not think that the prison system is going anywhere in the near future, so why not make them energy efficient, socially controlled, and green now?

My daughter, Katie, is also interning for me this summer. She has literally grown up with the Go Green Initiative, and is now taking a leadership role in the organization. This was her reflection:

My First Trip to Jail

We are always hearing, “Give 110%!” Well that’s exactly what Santa Rita County Jail is doing. Between their hydrogen fuel cell and solar panels they are completely self sufficient…and then some! They sometimes create more energy than they can even use in a 4,000 person jail!(Out of those 4,000 inmates are people in there for a year or less, people on trial, or people waiting to be transported to prison.) The hydrogen fuel cell is essentially carbon free, and produces 60-80% of the jails electricity. The solar panels produce the other 30% of the energy. There are other ways that the jail is going green too. Not only recycling the laundry water to use it again, they also recycle water bottles just like I do at school. (I knew there were similarities between jail and school) One of my favorite parts of the tour was the Automated Guided Vehicle System. Basically these little robot carts moved around on their own to pre-destined places to deliver food, sheets etc. They relied on little maintenance and operator involvement. Very efficient! It improves security because instead of transporting hundreds of inmates around the campus you bring everything to the inmates.

To hear more about their impressions of the trip to the Alameda County Jail, tune into Go Green Radio this week when we’ll talk to Lauren and Katie about their field trip behind bars! Go Green Radio airs live on http://www.voiceamerica.com/ from 9-10 a.m. Pacific time, and if you miss the live broadcast, you can download the podcast later at http://tinyurl.com/kwnr9j.

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 Radio This Week!

Re:Vision Dallas: Urban Sustainability… One city block at a time.

Everything is BIG in Texas, including big ideas for 21st Century Urban Planning and Green job creation! Dallas,TX recently offered up one city block, inviting architects and urban planners from around the world to compete to re-design the space into the United State’s first fully sustainable, “off the grid” inner-city block. This week on Go Green Radio, we have John Greenan of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, and representatives from two of the winning architectural firms: Little Architects, and David Banker and Partners with their respective entries, Entangled Bank and XERO Project.

We’ll be talking to them about this exciting and innovative green project involving the transformation of urban landscape into an energy efficient, sustainable community. The show airs live at 9 am Pacific on http://www.voiceamerica.com/, or you can listen to the podcast later at http://tinyurl.com/kwnr9j.

For more information on Re:Vision Dallas and Urban Re:Vision, visit http://www.urbanrevision.com/.

Green Teens Who Inspire Me

A few months ago, I received an email from Henry Han, a teenager in Houston, TX. He created the original artwork you see with this blog, and I think it is amazing! Through his own creative lens, he depicts both the peril of environmentally irresponsible behavior and the bright future we can look forward to if we treat the planet with care. If you like Henry's artwork as much as I do, you can view his gallery at http://hequalstohenry.deviantart.com/gallery/. Henry, you are a green teen who inspires me!

Ahsan Khan is another green teen making the world a better place. He wrote to me on the Go Green Face Space on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=6566461086

Hi! I am currently a High School Senior at Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, GA... I am planning a "Green Week" for the week of April 20th and helped get my school registered for the Go Green Initiative. I think this program is great and I am happy that my school is a part of it!For my Green Week event, I and the rest of our National Honor Society will be encouraging our new recycling program as well as passing out reusable water bottles and shopping bags to the students. I will be speaking to the faculty at my school soon to help them get involved. I am glad that I stumbled upon the GGI and I have gathered a number of ideas for my event through it! Thanks for everything that you do!

Henry and Ahsan, thank you so much for writing to me, and for using your talents to make your world a greener, cleaner place!