Your Daily Breeze

Earth Day, 2008

Much is written about Earth Day -- how it has become one of the Earth's biggest celebrations in a matter of just thirty years. Awareness of how we are insulting our benevolent hostess, Mother Earth, is increasing...somewhat. However, industrial development continues virtually unabated. Coal is still burned to produce electricity. Gasoline is up to $3.50 a gallon in the U. S., and is $2 a liter in Great Britain. And the atmosphere has more carbon in it than at any point in Earth's history. We've done a bit of searching around, and present to you this compendium of articles, essays and opinions of a variety of people. As many of them point out, today IS Earth Day. Please get out and do something...say something...make a difference for Mother Earth! (Photo by Apollo 17)

(Don't forget to return here for all kinds of other good stuff!)

earth day network

earth day action center

we can solve it

envirolink: the online environmental network

The Nature Conservancy on Earth Day

Environmental Defense Fund

Austin Earth Day

Ecologue

A Lot Living Green

The Sierra Club Earth Day Blog

Earth Day beyond Bush

The Toronto Star

Newsday: 20 Ways to Go Green

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal: Upon Green

CNet News: Green Tech Blog

World Changing: The Magazine & The Book

Jim Merkel: Radical Sustainability

Tree Hugger

Huffington Post on All Matter of Green

Beautiful Photographs of Mother Earth, by Wired Magazine

How to Green Your Fridge, from Vegetarian Times

Simple Green

You know, it doesn't take a nuclear rocket scientist to figure out how to make a difference in how you impact Mother Earth during your (brief) stay here. Whether you recyle, re-use, use-up or do without, some very simple ideas and practices can help you reduce your dependence on resources, AND save you some serious money in the process. Check out this nice article from The Oregonian regarding some best practices you can use.

Pseudo Green

Eventually, perhaps even inevitably, profit-conscious companies are going to jump on the "green" bandwagon. Even Wal-Mart. This and many other corporations are hoping to cash in on the growing environmental consciousness of more and more consumers. But it's not always quite what it seems. Have you heard of "greenwashing"? (And we don't mean green laundry soap!) The backlash can be significant. This article in the San Francisco Gate ponders the consequences of marginalizing green. And this one from Travel magazine considers the greenwashing of the travel business. Let us and others know how you feel about the subject. Thank you for your concern and patronage.

Subscribe...

Here at SustainabiliTee, we attempt to be reasonably up-to-date on things. One of the ways we do that is reading current publications. We have our favorites, as you can see by the subscription links in the column to your right (and down a bit). But we also try to survey all kinds of sustainabilitee-related publications. This section of the blog is our effort to spread the word. There are hundreds, thousands of magazines out there that have one sort or another of relevance to the sustainability of Mother Earth. Please, if you think that you'd like to subscribe to one or more of these periodicals, or simply want to gain access to these great web-magazine subscription services, use our links to sign up or enter the portal. We earn a small commission on every sale, and we use those funds to help our work on helping to rescue our Mother. Thank you so VERY much!

The Art of Recycling

Creating art can involve materials and products which are, shall we say, less than ecologically-correct. At Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, for example, we had to sign a waiver and agreement that what we were using (oil paints, turpentine, etc.) could be considered hazardous to our health. Since then, RISD has gone decidedly green, setting an example for, and protecting the health of, students, artists and alumni.

Many animation studios spend hundreds of dollars and countless toxic materials to make one stop-motion puppet. But, StartMotions has found making the puppets out of trash to be not only nicely inexpensive (some puppets, like the whale above, cost nothing in materials), but can also be good for the earth. No gas masks or ventaliation fans are needed in this studio; just good, unusual trash; which is, like all trash, everywhere, if you choose to look.

This image above was initially created for StopExtinction.org, but the Plovers took center stage for the animated public service announcement. See here (http://startmotions.com/animations_online.html).

Ingredients: Plastic floaty toy (lounge chair), broken car window glass (found on the streets of Providence, RI), organic cotton batting, donated paint, clay, and wire, and natural sunlight.

Artists are, by their very nature, on the vanguard of things. Creativity is paramount in order to be at the vortex of contemporaneity. The earth-conscious ethic is strong within the art community, not only for the choices of materials but also in the innovative use of otherwise cast-off goods. For my senior animation film project, Two by Two, I "invented" the use of broken glass as the ocean. I made the animals (whale shown above) from various recycled goods, including re-used wire (for the armatures) and thrift store fabrics. Others are doing similar work. For this Friday round-up, we're including a brief survey of artists not only inspired by nature but making good use of unusual and interestingly appropriate things. Here goes:

In Utica, NY, Doreen Quinn, Julie Snediker and others are making a difference.

Green Treks Television

San Francisco Recycling's Artist-in-Residence program

Recycled Pine Blossoms

Finland's Tietoa Minuta Favorite Recycling Artists

SimpleShoes

 

What can YOU recycle into art?

 

Renewable Energy Options...

How you select your electricity provider can make a difference in how Mother Earth copes with climate change. There are a variety of options available to a large number of electric-company consumers, primarily aimed at subsidizing the incrementally-greater costs (these cost differences are getting closer every day with oil at $113 a barrel!) of alternative energy. Check out this article in the current issue of Mother Earth News about how you can make conscious choices about how your electricity is produced.

Spring Green Cleaning!

Spring is a time for a thorough cleaning, the one (or second) time a year that we do more than maintain a reasonably clean abode. And this spring, more and more cleaning products are available to help us help keep Mother Earth clean too. We at Sustainabilitee use Seventh Generation laundry soap to prepare all our SustainabiliTees for you. But there are many more offerings for all your cleaning chores. Whether you're washing dishes, floors, laundry or yourself, take a look at this article for a fine overview of what you have as green options. Thank you.

SeaTees!

SustainabiliTee.com introduces Fresh-From-The-SeaSide Tees. These are no ordinary Tees. They're breeze-dried on the bold Downeast Coast of Maine. These gorgeous Tees deserve more than a hot and stuffy clothes drier. Before they're ever shipped to you, they're washed in gentle and earth-friendly Seventh Generation laundry soap and hung to dry in the fresh clear breezes of the Maine coast. Can't you just imagine opening your box of SusTees and holding each one of them to your cheek, inhaling the fragrant aroma? Check out the selection of innovative and elegant design of SustainabiliTees today!

Wind Me Up!

How we achieve energy independence is subject to interpretation. When we do it is of increasing importance. And some folks are concentrating on some innovative methods of accomplishing the task.

This is one of the most visually delightful, yet intellectually stimulating designs for the capture of the wind that we've seen yet. Yes, it's out there. But think about it. A hydropower installation uses the same principles. So do coal-powered turbines. Use the kinetic energy in your chosen "fuel" (in this case, wind) and run a mechanical device that produces usable electricity. We're being a bit coy here on purpose, and invite you to take a bit of time to meander around the site of this thoroughly innovative invention, and you'll see what we mean! Enjoy!

Need an Incentive to Recycle?

As if. There are plenty of great reasons to recycle, but some of us need a bit of an incentive. Ron Gonen, of Recycle Bank, has an idea on how to remind us of the importance of recycling: money. Using his company, recyclers can earn points toward purchases by recycling their plastic, glass and paper. Recycle Bank is expanding throughout New England, with an eye toward the national scene. It's a fine idea, and we invite you to take a look. And, if you're in the right place, you could start making a little green!

SustainabiliTee Welcomes Newest Affiliate!

YourDailyBreeze is pleased to announce its latest affiliation with an earth-conscious organization that's making a real difference in our world. Earth Cinema Circle is an environmental DVD distribution network, supplying you with the best of otherwise hard-to-find films about Mother Earth. From their website:

"There are thousands of wonderful films made each year that celebrate the natural wonders of our planet; there are films that educate us about the human impact on the environment; there are more films that profile the heroes dedicating their lives to finding solutions to the environmental crises.  And together, these films inspire all of us to get involved.

But unless you make it to lots of film festivals, you’ve probably never seen these movies, videos and documentaries. Earth Cinema Circle is created to bring those environmental film festivals to your home."

You'll get four DVDs every other month, and they're yours to keep! Please use the link below to visit EarthCinemaCircle and sign up today.

Visit EarthCinemaCircle today!

Want to Make a Difference?

Even though climate change and global warming may seem like insurmountable obstacles to us as individuals, we can make a difference. Every time you use energy, whether it's for cooking your food, heating or cooling your home, or traveling from place to place, by car, train or plane, you produce carbon dioxide.

Think about it: a reasonably-efficient automobile produces about a pound of carbon dioxide per mile! And we're not talking SUVs or dual-wheel six-liter four-wheel-drive diesel trucks here either! Just your average vehicle. Fly across country and that seat you're in produces more than a ton of carbon dioxide!

But there is a way to help (and assuage your guilt): terrapass.com

TerraPass is a unique website where you can pay your dues and actually make a difference. This unique website allows you to pay the going rate for carbon offsets. Essentially, it's an aggregator of small contributions that funnels funds into actual offset programs. These savvy folks have pulled more than 600,000,000 pounds of carbon from our atmosphere. Yes, you can make a difference!

American Earth

Bill McKibben, a former writer with the New Yorker, and a current scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College in Vermont, has been an outspoken advocate of environmental awareness and alternative energy for many years. He has written an amazing array of articles, essays and books on these and other ecologically-and-politically-charged subjects. He's not afraid to tell it like it is.

For a brief introduction to Bill, check out this video:

And then check out some of his work. His new book, "American Earth" (available on April 17th) is an anthology of Emerican environmental writing since the days of Thoreau; the foreword is by Al Gore. (As always, we appreciate your use of SustainabiliTeeshirts.com links to our vendors -- the small commissions we earn on sales go to our ongoing efforts to rescue Mother Earth. Thank you.)

Small but Steady Advances in Solar Cell Technology

An announcement on April 3rd from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows continuing progress in efficiency for solar cells other than silicon. The competing cells, made from copper indium gallium selenide, or CIGS, are touted as having the potential of being less expensive than traditional silicon cells. The announcement, which you can read in full here, pertains to achievement of an efficiency level of 19.9%, bringing this technology to a competitive point with fossil fuels, and that's before we even mention the environmental damages and costs of hydrocarbons. Check it out -- it's exciting news!

Visit Nau Now! (R.I.P.)

Update: Nau is no more. See their last words here.

As the environmentally-conscious clothing industry gains momentum, coalitions and alignments are occurring with increasing frequency. No longer are we out there alone shouting into the wilderness -- we communicate and act together to alter the ecological landscape.

One of our favorite activist clothing retailers is Nau, (and, their website is great!) From their blog:

"Nau is an outdoor apparel company born out of a desire to do business differently. From designing our clothes and developing our fabrics, to the way in which we build our stores, to our dedication to supporting organizations working for positive change, we are striving towards a more sustainable approach to being in business."

There it is again. "Sustainable". How do we work together to sustain, even improve, our condition. Nau has some strong and eloquent opinions on the matters, and puts its money where its mouth is, donating 5% of profits to a variety of causes you, the consumers, choose. Visit Nau now.

Brian Fagan's New Book: "The Great Warming"

In a fascinating new book, author Brian Fagan carefully explores an historical view of how climate change has not only its losers, but its winners as well. The author or "The Long Summer" and "The Little Ice" methodically analyzes in his new work "The Great Warming" how civilizations evolve and diminish as climatic changes rush through time.

Check out this review in the New York Times of March 21, 2008. And, remember please, you can order any of these books through Sustainabilitee.com and help support the Mother Earth rescue effort. We've provided direct links to each of these fine books below, and appreciate your patronage and participation in the mission of companies like SustainabiliTee.com.

Thank you for your support!

Contact YourDailyBreeze

It's easy to contact "yourdailybreeze", just email me: emily@yourdailybreeze.com, no prob!

Introducing Niki Mangino!

Niki set the standard high for SustainAbiliTeeShirts.com's first "featured artist". She found us through an ad and asked (she's so nice) if SustainabiliTee needed her services. Sure! The first design I saw was so endearing, and it only got better from there. She needs to have a whole store devoted to her, but until then, here's her lovely work.

As soon as possible, we're going to hire this girl. Don't get any ideas competitors! Here's a bit more about this fine young artist:

Niki Mangino is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. During her studies, Niki explored a variety of design techniques including screenprinting, fabric dyeing, batik, furniture design and weaving. After receiving her degree in Textile Design/ Fiber Arts, she began to explore other medias including glassblowing and jewelry-making.

Niki has always drawn inspiration from many different sources, but is constantly inspired by nature. Many of her designs are directly inspired by flowers, plant cells and other organic shapes and are often complemented by a bold palette. A lot of her recent work has been described as being "reminiscent of 60's and 70's poster art".

Currently, she is working on a line of screenprinted grocery totes, some of which  are constructed out of recycled fabrics and will be a greener alternative to all those yucky plastic bags.

Check out Niki's shop at:  www.elephantshoo.etsy.com or email her at:  nikimangino@yahoo.com
Some of her other work can be seen at:  www.textileartists.org/elephantshoo