Planetsave

Recycling for Change: Epic Change uses a pay-it-forward approach to saving the world

Gennefer Snowfield — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:59:13 +0000

If you’re going to change the world, wouldn’t you like it to be epic?

Stacey Monk, Co-founder and CEO of Epic Change, does, which is why she and Sanjay Patel decided to launch their unique approach to sparking social change by converting people’s “epic” stories into financial resources they can use to improve their communities, their lives – and the world.

Rooted in the best practices of successful businesses and charities, their somewhat novel approach to funding uses donations to provide interest-free loans to finance community improvement efforts, which they repay by generating revenue-driving projects based on each epic story, and then recycle by duplicating those ideas in other communities, effectively spreading hopefulness and change to everyone their program touches.

I had the opportunity to talk with Stacey to dig a little deeper into their change model, and this impassioned former management consultant with a degree in Public Policy from the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University boasts an impressive resume, but her most compelling attribute by far is a genuine desire to promote positive change and a dewey-eyed hopefulness that makes me believe she can.

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If Chevron Stopped Greenwashing, These Would be Their Ads

Alex Felsinger — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:08:03 +0000

The League of Conservation Voters has launched a new campaign to counter Chevron’s newest greenwashed advertising blitz. In their new ads, Chevron asks, “Will You Join Us?” and gives examples of the things people can do on a personal level to stop global warming.

They don’t mention what they as a company have the power to do. Instead, they ask people to do things like take their golf clubs out of their trunk, replace light bulbs with CFLs, and “consider” buying a hybrid.

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Activists: GM Deserves Bankruptcy for Climate Crimes

Alex Felsinger — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:31:51 +0000

The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office has issued a statement against the proposed bailout for the ‘big 3’ automakers. In particular, the release voices their opposition to bailing out General Motors due to their resistance to improving fuel-efficiency.

“General Motors deserves bankruptcy,” said Jason Crawford, a press officer for the ELF. “Fully aware of America’s dependence on foreign oil and the horrific environmental impact of the Hummer—an 8,500-pound monstrosity that yields an average of 10-mpg—GM continued producing gas-guzzling, polluting vehicles.”

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Moving Forward with My Entry-Level Green Job Search

Michael A. Weber — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:19:37 +0000

[Editor's Note: This is Part 3 of Michael's search for an entry-level job within an environmentally-focused non-profit or NGO]

Make sure to read my last update on my job search if you missed it. On a whim, I ended up speaking on camera to a college newspaper writer in Chicago about my troubles finding a job that meets my qualifications.

Life is funny—that interview ended up leading me to a seriously useful job resource. I had agreed to the interview because I felt bad for the journalist, who seemed to be struggling to get responses. But the video wound up on the internet, where Wendy Freeman, the director of career advising at Evergreen State College, stumbled across it. Excited to help with a search for a green job, she contacted me quickly.

She recommended that I focus my search on the east coast, specifically the Washington DC area, and said that she will work with me until I find a job that fits me perfectly. She has been a wealth of knowledge and information that could help anyone else in a similar situation to mine.

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Greenpeace: Japan Cuts Whale Hunt Quota by 20%

Michael A. Weber — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:44:53 +0000

Japan will drop its minke whale targets from 935 to 750, the first reduction made in over 20 years.

On top of reduced whale meat demand and world-wide pressure, Japan cites the unrelenting sea protests as a reason for this decision. This comes as both a huge victory for the animal rights community and also as breaking news, considering stories earlier today reported this season’s quota to be the same as it had been in previous years.

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PETA Releases ‘Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals’ Videogame

Alex Felsinger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:26:06 +0000

PETA has released a downloadable videogame parody of the Cooking Mama series usually found on Nintendo game consoles. The game includes such family friendly activities as plucking feathers and removing the internal organs from a dead turkey.

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Today: National Day of Action Against Coal-Funding Banks

Alex Felsinger — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:20:26 +0000

Rainforest Action Network has declared yesterday and today, November 15th, as national days of protest against Citibank and Bank of America for their consistent support of the coal industry and its impact on global warming.

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South Africa Could Soon Allow Controlled Elephant Hunts

Alex Felsinger — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:43:21 +0000

Once severely endangered, elephants in South Africa now thrive, causing some to worry that their population could threaten smaller species.

While some are calling to reinstate culling of elephants for the first time since 1994, other conservationists worry that the effects of killing elephants run deeper than we understand.

In 1900, the elephant population sunk to only 200 due to hunting; now, the population is estimated to be 17,000. This soaring number combined with their individual demand for feed can result in over-grazing, which hurts the rhinoceros and gazelle populations first.

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Nestle Waters CEO Whines, But Still Doesn’t Walk The Walk

Jennifer Kaplan — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:41:36 +0000

In a recent Businessweek article, Kim Jeffery the CEO of Nestlé Water North America, makers of Poland Spring waters, whines (yes, whines) that they are misunderstood and not given the credit they deserve. Clearly he thinks all the charges of greenwash are unfair.

But, are they? The article tells of all the environmentally preferable things that they had done but that no one knew about. The article then goes on to say:

Part of the reason Nestlé Waters wasn’t touting its environmental efforts, according to Jeffery, was that he and the rest of management considered such actions business as usual.

Yes! That’s the point. the “green” things Nestlé were doing were part of normal business operations, many of which saved the company lots of money. Are they good for the environment? Of course. But that’s not really what greenwashing is all about. Its about consumer marketing. This is where the real greenwashing occurs. Before I go on, I want to say that I truly applaud the industry for implementing eco-bottles. That said, it seems to be a blatant case of greenwash to position bottled water as being good for the environment. Water companies should tout eco-bottles, but they shouldn’t suggest that they are good for the environment. They should sell the water, not the the environmental friendliness of the packaging. I would like to ad, that Nestlé is not the worst offender of greenwashy bottled water ads and their ad campaigns are far less offensive than those for Fuji Water and Deer Park.

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USDA Rescues Abused Elephant From Circus Trainer

Melissa Elliott — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:05:27 +0000

The USDA has confiscated Ned, a severely underweight male elephant from circus trainer Lance Ramos, aka Lancelot Kollman. Only the second elephant to have been confiscated by the USDA, Ned was taken from Ramos for failure to comply with the Animal Welfare Act and was placed with The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

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