Hobbyists sweetening the picture for threatened honey bees
November 16th, 2009 · No Comments
By Chris Reinolds
Green Right Now
Beekeeper Laura Johnson enjoys tending to her buzzing friends, but the real motive behind her hobby is stopping the decline of honey bees.
Bee Colony Collapse Disorder has been threatening bees, and the crops they serve, around the world for the past several years.
So Johnson, an organic gardener in suburban Atlanta, decided it was time to jump into honey.
Tags: · bee farming, bee keeping, Beekeepers, Colony Collapse Disorder, honey bees, honey harvest, loss of bees, Organic gardening, pesticides, pollen, pollinating
Sleep-out protest in third week in Boston; Dr. Hansen testifies
November 9th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Green Right Now Reports
Rallying for a clean energy bill in Massachussetts, noted climatologist Dr. James Hansen told students this weekend that they must take the future in their hands.

Massachusetts Sleep Out (Photo: Ian McClellan)
“Our universe is incredibly unjust and inequitable for young people and future generations. ” Dr. Hansen said. “Unless someone can change the direction, young people are really in trouble. Our governments are not taking actions or planning actions that will achieve this.”
Tags: · 100 percent clean energy by 2020, Boston, Dr. James Hansen, lobbying for clean energy, sleep out protest, student activists, The Leadership Campaign
Gleaning crews put sustainability into action, feeding those in need
November 4th, 2009 · No Comments
Fact: America has an abundance of food.
Question: So why does anyone go hungry in this country?

A potato gleaning in Virginia (Photo: Society of St. Andrew)
Armed with this simple thought, the Society of St. Andrew (SOSA) took up the cause of feeding the hungry in 1979 with the idea of gleaning fields for salvageable produce.
“We do this in two says,” says Carol Breitinger, communications director. “We use volunteers in the field for hands-on gleaning, or we send out trucks to pick up surplus crops that farmers can’t use and would just end up in the landfill.”
Tags: · excess grocery store produce, food banks, food reclamation, food waste, gleaning, gleaning fields, North Carolina, North Texas Food Bank, public service, saving leftover food, Society of St. Andrew, surplus crops, Texas, USDA, Virginia
PFCs found in an array of consumer goods linked to high cholesterol
November 3rd, 2009 · No Comments
By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
Man-made chemicals that have long made life easier for everyone from cooks to clothiers are getting another round of scientific scrutiny. They may be related to unhealthy levels of cholesterol, a study released Monday suggests.

Jessica Nelson, one of the authors of a new study of chemicals' impact on cholesterol
Tags: · Boston University School of Public Health, Cholesterol, cholesterol levels, Environmental Health Perspectives, EPA and PFCs, Jessica W. Nelson, non-stick surfaces and PFCs, perfluoroalkys, PFCs, PFCs linked to higher bad cholesterol, PFHxS, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS, repellents and PFCs
Green Patriarch urges respect for Mother Nature as planet reaches ‘limits’
October 28th, 2009 · No Comments
By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
It’s not just environmental lobbyists who are gearing their words toward strong action at the upcoming Copenhagen climate change negotiations.
At a recent appearance in New Orleans, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, dubbed the “Green Patriarch” by Al Gore, minced no words about the urgency of addressing climate change:
“We have reached a defining moment in our history…the point where absolute limits to our survival are being reached,” and we “instead of living on income, or the available surplus of the earth, we are consuming environmental capital and destroying its resources as if there is no tomorrow.”
Tags: · "Restoring Balance: The Great Mississippi", Green Patriarch, His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, New Orleans, planet reaching limits, Religion, Science and Environment Symposium, the Mississippi
Crawl for toxic chemical reform
October 27th, 2009 · No Comments
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
In an effort to bring attention to the nation’s outdated toxic chemical laws, Seventh Generation, the makers of many environmentally safe home products, has partnered with Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families in the Million Baby Crawl. This campaign is asking everyone, moms or not, to urge Congress for stronger chemical regulations.

Erin Brockovich
Tags: · Amy Smart, Catherin McCord, Eric Brockovich, Hollywood, Kellie Martin, Million Baby Crawl, Seventh Generation, toxic chemical reform, Toxic Substance Control Act, TSCA
350 travels 360 on day of climate action
October 26th, 2009 · 1 Comment
By Sommer Saadi and Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
If anyone doubted that there’s a global grassroots movement to fight climate change, they may reconsider after viewing the photos that streamed in this weekend from the International Day of Climate Action.

Tags: · #350ppm, 350 parts per million, 350.org, demonstrations across the globe, International Day of Climate Action, photos of 350 actions, the number scientists consider safe upper limit
Solar Decathlon winners showcase cutting edge in green building
October 23rd, 2009 · No Comments
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
The US Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon showcased the best in solar-powered home design as conceived by colleges students. Over 20 teams from across North America and Europe competed in this year’s competition.

1st Place Solar Home
Tags: · California College of the Arts, Green Homes, net metering, Santa Clara University, Solar Decathlon, Solar Energy, sustainable building, Team Germany, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Get ready for an International Day of Climate Action
October 22nd, 2009 · No Comments
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
This Saturday is International Day of Climate Action — a chance for everyone to take a stand on behalf of the planet and possibly participate in one of 4,300 actions that are planned in 171 countries.
350.org began the International Day of Climate Action campaign not only to wake up politicians, but wake up the world. The group wants everyone to know about and understand the number 350, which signifies the level many scientists have identified as the safe utmost limit for CO2 in the atmosphere, in parts per million.
Here are a few unique events around the US:
Tags: · #350ppm, 350 parts per million, 350.org, demonstrate for carbon reductions, International Day of Climate Action, join events for International Day of Climate Action, reduce your carbon imprint, stop carbon pollution
Youth receive Brower Awards for environmental work
October 19th, 2009 · No Comments
By Harriet Blake
As the Nobel Prize Committee noted in awarding President Obama with the Nobel Peace Prize last week, the world is in a better place than it was a year ago.
The world also is in a better place thanks to six young people who are being honored on Tuesday for their heroic environmental efforts. [...]
Tags: · Adarsha Shivakumar, Alec Loorz, Brower Youth Awards, Climate Change, Diana Lopez, Earth Island Institute, Hai Vo, Nobel Peace Prize, Robin Bryan, Sierra Crain-Murdoch, teen climate activitists, The Climate Project, youth activism, youth environmentalists, youth movement
Save a turkey this Thanksgiving
October 14th, 2009 · 1 Comment
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Halloween is still a few weeks out, but for farm animal advocates, it is time to talk turkey.

Ginnifer Goodwin at the Farm Sanctuary (Photo: Ryan Pfluger)
Tags: · confined livestock, de-beaking, environmental footprint of livestock, Farm Sanctuary, Ginnifer Goodwin, humane animal treatment, turkeys, vegetarianism
Harris Poll finds many Americans are actively green, others have not signed up
October 13th, 2009 · No Comments
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
The latest Harris Poll on green behavior in America is a good news/bad news story.
The good news: Most people have done something that’s green, by recycling a computer or cell phone; switching to tap water from bottled; made their home more energy efficient in some way.
The bad news: Only a tiny fraction of US residents (2 percent) own hybrid cars and vast numbers of people have not “engaged” in most of the green activities the survey asked about, like for example composting (only 17 percent do), walking or biking to work (15 percent), or even getting a low flow shower head (17 percent).
Tags: · appliances, buying local, buying organic, carpooling, CFL lightbulbs, Composting, energy efficient appliances, energy improvements, green actions, green Americans, Harris Poll, hybrid cars, low flow showerheads, online bills, Recycle & Reuse, reusing, Tap Water

