international day of climate action

This Saturday, over 4000 events are being planned in over 170 countries to make a loud statement about the importance of action to abate climate change. It may just be the most widespread day of environmental action in the history of the planet.

To participate, you can volunteer to host an event, like arranging a screening of an important environmental film, such as A Sea Change. (Find out how here. Then join the facebook event here.)

Or you can join in one of the many existing actions - Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, go to a climate awareness festival in Palo Alto or a picnic in Abu Dhabi. Go here to find out how you can take part (or just consult the map below).


View Actions at 350.org


According to 350.org, all events are designed to do one thing: show the support for the most important number in the world: 350.

What’s the big deal with 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for parts per million carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. 350 is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. Most immediately, 350 is the number world leaders need to lead with as they prepare to meet in Copenhagen this December to draft a new global climate treaty.

How will you get involved?

care to make a difference: blog action day 09

This post is part of Blog Action Day '09

Floods, droughts, super storms - these are not the things of fantasy, of Hollywood blockbuster disaster films. They are real. And real people who live off the land are the most affected by these climate-change–induced or -exacerbated events.

Yet the wealthiest nations, especially those with large standing militaries, are burning fossil fuels like there's no tomorrow. And there very well might not be if they keep it up.

While climate change and its effects are being seen today, most of us are still thinking like it's some futuristic event. It is here, and people are suffering because of it. The time to act is not when things start to really get ugly for all of us, the time to act is now.

Luckily, there are organizations doing the work now to prevent catastrophe for those who could not recover from it. Organizations like CARE are examining the impact of climate change on coastal and rural communities in economically poor places, and mitigating the negative.

See how people are impacted, then do something about it.





This is what CARE has to say about the current state of climate change action...

Poor people are especially vulnerable to climate change due to the sensitivity of their livelihoods and the extensive constraints - such as low levels of formal schooling and political marginalisation - that frame their adaptive capacity. Therefore, the world's response to climate change has to challenge entrenched inequities and discriminatory power structures if we are to ensure that everyone can access the information, resources and support necessary for adaptation. But this hasn't happened. Instead, the international community has focused on building capacity within poor countries to integrate climate change in national policy frameworks.

Though helpful, this is wholly insufficient because vulnerability to climate change varies within countries, communities and even households. National-level efforts must be complemented by action at the grassroots that understands, targets and reduces the poorest people's vulnerability to climate change. In recognition of this principle, community-based adaptation is finally emerging as a critical part of the global response to climate change.

And this is how CARE responds to the situation...

CARE's approach to community-based adaptation is people-centred. It fosters more resilient livelihoods, strengthens local capacity through training and the promotion of appropriate traditional knowledge, supports social change and engages in advocacy to address the underlying causes of poverty and differential vulnerability.

CARE's community-based approach to adaptation is composed of the following four inter-related action areas:

• Reducing the Risk of Disasters
• Making Livelihoods More Resilient
• Strengthening Local Capacity
• Supporting Social Mobilisation and Policy Engagement

Read more about CARE's actions in the face of climate change

Get involved with CARE

give synthetics the boot (bag)

Icebreaker, maker of some of the finest Merino wool activewear around, will be "bagging synthetics" next week.

Starting Monday, October 5, the New Zealand based company will be taking your stinky old synthetic, petroleum-based t-shirts (think polyester) and turning them into reusable marathon shoe bags in the Paragon Sports store window, on the spot, and for absolutely free.

Bonus for marathoners and aspiring marathoners: get 26.2% off your Icebreaker GT purchase and get a free pair of Icebreaker socks (from Oct 5 to 12).

So why should you ditch your old synthetic tee for a Merino wool one?

Synthetic tees:

• stink after a run
• feel unnatural
• are made from oil

Icebreaker merino apparel:

• made from all-natural wool from free-range Merino sheep
  
• feels soft to the touch
• has natural wicking abilities
• doesn't stink when you sweat in it
• non-polluting
• biodegradable
• suitable for all seasons

Plus you can run in Icebreaker apparel for weeks without washing it, so energy costs are reduced and less detergents are put into the environment. Read more about Icebreaker's ethos.

And here are the details for the event:

Monday, October 5 to Monday, October 12
11 am – 7 pm
Paragon Sports
867 Broadway at 18th Street, NYC

lettuce eat local!

I mean Let Us Eat Local. It's a gala event for Just Food, advocates for healthful, sustainable food access for all. Check it!



Tickets are now available for our second annual Let Us Eat Local Gala and Award Ceremony, a fundraiser that helps support our programs. More than 30 chefs from NYC's finest restaurants will be serving up 100% local food paired with local craft beers. The McKinley Hightower-Beyah Awards will honor farmers, organizations, journalists, and gardeners who work to bring fresh, locally grown food to those who need it most.
Let Us Eat Local!

DATE: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
TIME: VIP hour begins 6 PM
General Admission begins 7 PM

LOCATION:
Prince George Hotel Ballroom
15 East 27th Street, NYC
Get Your Ticket!
$235 VIP (entrance to event, 6:00 PM)
$150 General Admission (entrance to event, 7:00 PM)
$135 Just Food Members (entrance to event, 7:00PM)
Purchase Tickets Online

Menu
Starters:
VIP Exclusive with an extra hour and special tastings

The Main Course
So much to savor, so little time. 30 Chefs. 40 Local Producers.

Perfectly Paired
Each tasting is paired with a local craft beer.
Orchestrated by NY Craft Beer Week.

A Celebration of Our Region's Finest
Journalist
Organization
Farmer
Gardener

Silent Auction
Featuring gardening and cooking gear, hand-crafted jewelry, cooking classes, and more!

Satisfaction:
100% of proceeds support our efforts to change the world through food.

Plus goody bags with delicious treats and cool items to take home!

is the gowanus canal really sponge worthy?

The Gowanus Canal Issues, dlandstudio

Most New Yorkers, especially Brooklynites, know the beloved Gowanus Canal is teeming with nasty things: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum, raw sewage, and even gonorrhea. Since the late 1800s, the canal has been an unregulated dumping grounds for industry along its banks.

The canal is finally getting the attention it needs. Whether it ends up being an EPA Superfund site, or - if Bloomie get's his way - the city cleans it up without the Feds, there is one organization ensuring the clean up and beautification happens - The Gowanus Canal Conservancy.

The Conservancy is working on, among other things, a Sponge Park that will make the Gowanus an inviting place for a leisurely stroll or sit, instead of the putrid, toxified wasteland it currently is. The "sponge" in this case are plants that filter out the nasties (sewage, heavy metals, petrol) that seep into the canal - water which eventually flushes out into the East River and the Atlantic beyond. A tall order indeed, but I'm optimistic that it'll happen. All government agencies are on board and $300,000 was recently earmarked to help fund the park.

You can help out by donating or by volunteering for on one of their Clean & Green days. There's one this Saturday, July 25. Sign up via email:
volunteer@gowanuscanalconservancy.org
(include your name, phone number and dates you’d like to participate).

brooklyn food coalition general meeting

Do you like food? Do you like food that's healthful and sustainably produced? Want to get involved in shaping the way food is produced and distributed locally?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, come to the first
Brooklyn Food Coalition General Meeting!

What: Brooklyn Food Coalition General Meeting
Why: To approve the mission and structure of the Coalition and the convening of neighborhood groups
When: WEDNESDAY, JULY 22nd from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Where: Brooklyn Ethical Culture Society
53 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Get the full details here.

rally for bees, please!

By now most people know that we need bees in order to have healthy food crops. Not to mention that bees produce a delicious sweetener with health benefits called honey.

But did you know that beekeeping is illegal in NYC?

Help legalize the bees by taking action.

Come to the rally at City Hall on June 23!

A Notice of Violation for having honeybees was issued on May 20 to a backyard beekeeper in Brooklyn by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, whose health code renders beekeeping illegal in NYC. The beekeeper's hearing will be on June 23rd, let's send a strong message of support for her and other brave beekeepers in NYC, and tell City Council and the Department of Health to take immediate action to end the illegality of beekeeping in NYC!

When: Tuesday, June 23th at 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM

Where:

• Press conference & rally with beekeepers, bee supporters, and David Yassky and other Council Members will be held at City Hall steps at 12:30
• Beekeeper Citation Hearing will be at NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene's Administrative Tribunal, 66 John Street, 11th Floor at 1:30
  

Please RSVP with subject line "bee rally" to nadia@justfood.org.

Sign the petition to legalize beekeeping

It's easy, just click here!

[via Just Food]

how do you communicate with earth?

Ok, this isn't some new-agey thing. I mean, how can you communicate with other people around the planet about the planet? Connect2Earth can help you do just that.

Connect2Earth is a collaboration of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), and Nokia that brings together people who have questions about environmental issues with the scientists who have the answers.

When you join the Connect2Earth network, you gain access to leading experts in fields like climate change, species extinction, and renewable energy. Members can also upload videos, engage in debate, enter contests, and follow live discussions of the topics that interest them most.

It's a great way to connect with others interested in reducing their impact on the planet and express views on how to improve the outcome.

Connect2Earth is still in beta, but with a focus on younger participants, I think it'll take off in no time.

what the @#$% are they putting in our food?

and what are you gonna do about it?

Join the members of New York State Against Genetic Engineering (NYSAGE) on


THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2009
7PM
Sixth Street Community Center
638 East 6th Street (Between Avenues B & C)
Manhattan

to organize for SAFE FOOD LOBBY DAY in Albany June 10, 2009.

The meeting will begin with a panel discussion with Dr. Michael Hansen of Consumer Union, Greg Todd of the Park Slope Food Coop and Rob Schmidt of SOS Food. The panel will provide an update on the latest science around GE foods and crops, the recently released food labeling study by Park Slope Food Coop and a summary of the recent trip to Albany by six NYSAGE members who met with the staffs of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith. Following this we will discuss plans and logistics for the upcoming Safe Food Lobby Day scheduled for Wednesday, June 10.

Bring a dish or drink to share if you can. We hope you can join us!

Howard Brandstein and Annette Averette
SOS Food/NYSAGE
212-677-1863
www.sosfood.org
www.nysage.org


Learn more about genetically engineered or genetically modified foods, from:

• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Farm Aid
• Institute for Responsible Technology

rally to stop coal plant financing

Join Dozens of activists with the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and New York Public Interest Research Group this coming Tuesday - May 19 - to rally against the financing of dirty coal by JPMorgan Chase. Be sure to bring your banners, signs, and voice to let CEO Jamie Dimon and other JPMorgan Chase shareholders know you won't stand for dirty coal plants and mountaintop removal coal mining. Full details below:

Groups to Rally at JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting on May 19th
New Yorkers Ask CEO Jamie Dimon to Stop Financing Coal Plants

WHEN: May 19th,
Rally, 9:30 am - 10:30 am
JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting - 10 am

WHERE: One Chase Manhattan Plaza, New York, NY [map]

WHAT: Rally outside the JPMorgan Chase annual shareholder meeting, questioning Jamie Dimon, one of the leading financiers of coal plants and mountaintop removal coal mining. Despite Mr. Dimon’s rhetoric on the need for clean energy and strong environmental policies, JPMorgan Chase continues to underwrite Massey Energy, one of the biggest and most heavily criticized mountaintop removal coal mining companies in the country. JP Morgan Chase also continues to fund expensive and highly polluting coal plants throughout the United States, including the proposed AMP-Ohio coal plant, one of the most financially risky coal proposals in the country.

WHO: Dozens of activists with the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, and New York Public Interest Research Group.
- Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action,
- Larry Gibson, President of Keeper of the Mountains Foundation
- Dana Clark, Director of Global Finance for Rainforest Action Network

go plant a tree!

Did you know that tomorrow is Arbor Day? I hadn't a clue until I just got this email from MillionTreesNYC. If I didn't have to work tomorrow, I'd be doing this (boo to work!):

Still looking to do something green this Arbor Day – Friday, April 24?

Join New York Restoration Project (NYRP) in celebrating MillionTreesNYC Month with presenting sponsor BNP Paribas by planting over 200 trees in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Friday, April 24. By volunteering, you will be helping MillionTreesNYC create a cleaner, greener New York City, while also having some fun under the Brooklyn sun! So dig in and demonstrate just how green you can be by registering today!

Only 100 volunteer opportunities remain available for our Arbor Day celebration tomorrow. So, register today.

Friday, April 24
9:00 am to 3:30 pm
Volunteer sign-in begins at 8:30 am

Sternberg Park – East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(On Lorimer Street, between Montrose Ave and Boerum Street)

IMPORTANT REGISTRATION INFORMATION: All volunteers must be 18 years or older. To volunteer you must register in advance by contacting Olivia Chen at ochen@nyrp.org. Upon registration, you will receive an e-mail confirming your participation.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided for registered volunteers. Tree-planting will end at 3:00 pm and culminate with an ice cream social in NYRP’s Heckscher Foundation’s Children Garden.

Not in NYC? Find Arbor Day activities in your neck of the woods.

tomorrow's earth day

(If the sun hugged a tree you could kiss that tree goodbye... sizzle sizzle. Ok, maybe I'm being too literal.)

Yeah, big deal, tomorrow's Earth Day. I kind of agree with the sentiment expressed by environmental mag Grist: "Screw Earth Day." By now we should all be doing our part, or at least trying to take small steps daily toward cultivating a healthier planet (and selves). I guess it's easy for me to have this attitude since I'm one of those people who's trying her darndest to lighten her impact on the planet. But there are plenty of people and policies that haven't been infected by the green bug that's been sweeping the nation over the last few years. It's really for them that we still need Earth Day.

Not sure how to honor Earth Day #39? Here are a few ideas:

get outside!
Been cooped up inside so long you've forgotten how? Listen to the Nature Conservancy's urging to Spring Outside! and learn about ways to find nature near you.


bid on Leo's stuff
Leonardo DiCaprio is auctioning off some of his goods, and his time, on eBay to benefit Global Green USA.

Global Green USA is greening America's schools, affordable housing, and cities to combat global warming, lower energy bills, and create green jobs. Global Green is the US affiliate of Mikhail Gorbachev's Green Cross International, and is leading the green rebuilding of New Orleans.


volunteer
A few great ways to do so, via Grist (with a few edits):

• EarthDay.gov
• Volunteer Match
• Serve.gov
• Earth Day Network
• Student Conservation Association
• Sierra Club
• National Park Service
• World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)

get on the bus - to Albany
Join the Audubon Society of NY for a big environmental lobbying event, Tuesday, May 5th from 9:30am to 4pm.

Earth Day Lobby Day is New York's largest annual environmental event, bringing together people from all over New York to hear from government and environment leaders, learn about current legislation, and lobby elected officials on environmental issues that are important to you. We'll be focusing on global warming, e-waste recycling, wetlands protection, and SEQRA standing (aka the "environmental access to justice act").

The all-day event is free and open to all, but you must pre-register by Friday, May 1st.

Please put "Audubon New York" in the organization line when filling out the form. We will send out directions and more detailed information to all registrants in advance of the event. Sign up for Earth Day Lobby Day today by clicking here!


clean out the closets and recycle your e-waste
Two events in NYC are coming up -

Sunday, April 26th, 10AM - 4PM, Central Park, Manhattan
W 67th Street and Central Park West

Saturday, May 2nd, 10AM - 4PM, at Tekserve, Manhattan
119 W 23rd Street (btwn 6th and 7th Aves)

Not in NYC, not to worry. Check out Earth 911 for electronics recycling in your area.


support local recycling efforts (Park Slope, Brooklyn)
The Park Slope 5th Avenue BID has partnered with the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce to launch a new recycling campaign. Green Grows in Brooklyn, will take place from April 20th-April 22nd — right in time for Earth Day. For more info on this initiative, check out Green Brooklyn.

times coverage of yesterday's seed bombing

Britt Bolnick, her daughter Bella Pagtov Karbownika, 3, and Liz Neves
were among those planting wildflower seeds on Saturday.
Andrea Mohin/The New York Times.

The event made it into the Times, and so did I, though it could be anyone under that black hood above. And I'm the "sustainable living consultant from Prospect Heights" that goes unnamed in the article.

Among the volunteers were a sustainable-living consultant from nearby Prospect Heights, two Italian architects, an industrial designer who rode his bike from Bushwick, and the president of a block association on Greene Avenue.

They carried black canvas bags containing the seeds of 18 types of wildflowers, including sunflowers and cornflowers, black-eyed Susans, lanceleaf coreopsis, sweet williams and none-so-prettys. They also had a handful of what looked like malted milk balls — the volunteers called them “seed bombs” and said they dissolve in the rain, releasing seeds.

Read the rest

Find out what other volunteers had to say at 21st Century Plowshare.

soggy bed-stuy meadow

I had high hopes for this day. The rain was meant to taper off early in the afternoon. I met a friend and her 3-year-old daughter (Bella) at the rendezvous point. We arrived at our destination as the press did. We got our assignment with our zone highlighted on the map. And most importantly, we got our package. A bag full of seed-n-sand and seed bombs.

Maneuvering an umbrella, the bag of seeds, and my camera was pretty much out of the question in the cold April rain. Thus, I have very few pictures for evidence. But I have a feeling tomorrow's news will bring a few that I can "borrow."

We headed out, spreading seeds in sidewalk cracks, untended tree beds, and abandoned yards or lots. A couple of blocks away from the rendezvous I consulted the map. We were heading in the wrong direction. Retracing our steps toward our designated zone, we ran into a reporter from the New York Times. Since at this point, around 11:25 am, we were the only people around on the mission, the press stayed on us. Little Bella and her mom were interviewed by News 12 Brooklyn, and I by the Times.

We were all soaking wet at this point, our hands raw from the seed mix and the inside of the rough canvas bag. The little one was getting restless. We made it a half a block into our intended zone and Bella reached the breaking point. I can't say I was too upset, the cold rain had tired me out, too. This, after only 1 hour of seeding the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn.

(Pictured above, Deborah Fisher of 21st Century Plowshare, event organizer)

Needless to say, I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't luck out with the weather, and that I gave up so early. But April showers bring May flowers. I hope today's shower brings the wildflowers we sowed today.

I also hope that other volunteers had more stamina than we did. There were about 200 confirmed for the event, assigned to 4 different zones in the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy. I'd like to return in a month or two to see what today's effort brings.


View Planting Zones in a larger map

I am optimistic.

With my bag of seeds, I'm going to try again -- this time in my neighborhood -- to cover some abandoned spots and construction lots. Every place could use a little more green.

Who wants to join me?


Related post

beautify bed-stuy, tomorrow!

beautify bed-stuy, tomorrow!

I can't wait to start throwing those seed bombs! (Rain or shine)

Repost of an oldpost



I've been wanting to throw some seed bombs since I wrote about Green Guerrillas last summer (and maybe even before that). Well now I'm going to have the chance to live the dream, and you can too, if you're interested.

Here's the opportunity -- it's called Bed Stuy Meadow and it's a project being put on by 21st Century Plowshare, who describe themselves as:

... an inspiration-station and resource hub for anyone who wants to deploy environmental actions that matter--actions that prompt an ecstatic recognition of people's surroundings. Do your part! Join the discourse, participate in the actions here and make your own actions happen!

Oh man, if that doesn't make you want to get involved, I don't know what will.

Full details are below. If you want to get in on the action, email them at 21stcenturyplowshare@gmail.com

If you want to make your own seed bomb, get instructions here [via FunTimeHappyGardenExplosion].


Project Description

The goal is to sow wildflower seeds on every single patch of abandoned soil in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bed Stuy this April. By early summer, there should be so many wildflowers growing in the untended treepits, vacant lots, half-built developments and other tiny scraps of neglected soil in Bed Stuy that the whole neighborhood effectively turns into a meadow.

Wildflower seeds are very easy to plant, and they grow well in poor, shallow soils without human attention, so it's going to be relatively easy to make a huge visual impact over the entire neighborhood. The profusion of wildflowers that result from this minimal effort will probably be relentless and visually unifying, and this relentless unity of wildflowers will probably make anyone walking down the street feel good.

I want there to be so many wildflowers on the streets that the summer of 2009 is remembered very fondly every single resident of the neighborhood. I want the continuity of the Meadow to be so strong that Google Earth is compelled to re-photograph Bed Stuy. I want people who don't even live within the five boroughs to visit Bed Stuy for the first time so that they can see the Meadow with their own eyes, and I want people who will never even come to be so inspired by the Bed Stuy Meadow that they make their own amazing neighborhood project and share it on 21st Century Plowshare.

Bed Stuy is a neighborhood of contradictions. There is a lot of crime here, but it's also by far the friendliest neighborhood I have ever lived in. It's got a litter problem and the landscape is dotted with empty lots and condemned houses. But this is also a neighborhood of seriously tended front yards with a rich history of community gardening. Bed Stuy claims as its own Hattie Carthan and the Notorious B.I.G. I think the Meadow is going to work because it doesn't work against what Bed Stuy is. Bed Stuy's low-slung, long-blocked character and the expansiveness of its territory are not like an urban jungle or forest as much as an urban prairie. The effort of the meadow is another chapter in the community gardening history of the neighborhood. Wildflowers are beautiful in the way that the architecture here is beautiful, the way the people who go out of their way to say good morning on the streets here are beautiful. And wildflowers are tough enough to grow wherever the seeds are cast.

signing petitions and letters pays off

Sometimes I receive an email or letter in response to a petition or letter I've signed stating that said petition helped make something happen. I just wanted to share with you one of these letters, to show that taking the smallest little action -- like typing your name in an online form with a letter to your representatives attached -- pays off.

Dear Liz,

Over the past several weeks more than 17,000 Sierra Club members emailed, called, and wrote letters to Congress. Hundreds of you submitted letters to the editor and encouraged your friends and family to call their representatives. Your calls and emails paid off! The biggest public lands bill in decades cleared its final hurdle today, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass it. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 safeguards millions of acres of new wilderness, protects hundreds of miles of rivers, expands trails, and keeps critical habitat in Wyoming safe from oil and gas leasing.

Today, Congress has helped ensure that we will have a wild legacy to pass on to our children and grandchildren. This bill helps guarantee that future generations will be able to hike in pristine forests from California to West Virginia. The bill ensures that Americans will have a chance to fish untouched rivers and watch antelope migrate in the wild.

The bill protects more than two million acres of wilderness in nine states, including the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, Oregon's Mt. Hood, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. It also shelters over a million acres of key hunting and fishing grounds on the Wyoming Range from oil and gas drilling.

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,



Greg Haegele
Director of Conservation

love water

Thousands have lived without love,
not one without water.

~W.H. Auden


These are the words that opened the film Flow. See the trailer below.




The film is an eye-opening look at the commoditization and poisoning of our most precious and dwindling resource. And I recommend that everyone watch it. Hopefully, it will change the way you think about and consume water.

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man -- all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children.

So, we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us. This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you the land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

Continue reading this version of Chief Seattle's response to an offer to buy the land on which his people lived (1854).

Sign the petition to add article 31, the right to water, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Related post
water, water everywhere...

vote for green edge nyc!

Okay, I know just a few days ago I was telling you to vote for the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, and here I am telling you to vote for GreenEdge (the NYC-based sustainable-living social networking site). The great thing is, you can vote for both. What does voting for these great organizations mean?

Well, there are 4 grants up for grabs from Green Mountain Coffee at the tune of $200K each (more details). With these funds, I think groups like Brooklyn Greenway and GreenEdge NYC will do amazing things for our community, and inspire similar initiatives to sprout up across the nation.

And now that I think about it, both of these organizations are about connecting people. The Greenway physically connects Brooklynites to communities from Greenpoint to Red Hook and also to Manhattan. GreenEdge connects people looking to get involved in the sustainable living scene - from food-foraging groupies to neighborhood potluck dinners. This grant would provide both groups with a greater opportunity to reach more people and to help more people reach out to others.

So please, take a minute and help these great orgs get a much-deserved grant.

You can vote for both!

Vote for GreenEdge NYC
Vote for Brooklyn Greenway Initiative

You only have until Saturday, March 21 to vote, so hop to it!

more support for the brooklyn greenway - tonight!

Just thought I'd alert you all to the latest action regarding the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. There's a community board meeting tonight if you want to get involved. More about the Greenway here and here.

CB6 Mtg re: Atlantic Basin & Pier 11 - March 16th
New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Port Authority of NY & NJ will come to Community Board 6 on Monday, March 16th to discuss plans for Atlantic Basin and the adjacent Pier 11, which is an important link in the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, as well as for Pier 7 at the foot of Atlantic Avenue. You can follow the conversation and possible outcome by attending this meeting.

What: CB6 Economic Dvpt / Waterfront / Community Dvpt / Housing Committees

When: Monday, March 16th, 6:30PM

Where: Public School 15, 71 Sullivan Street (b/t Richards and Van Brunt Streets)

Agenda: Continued dialogue with representatives for the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on planning efforts for Pier 7 and the Atlantic Basin at the Red Hook waterfront.

vote for the brooklyn greenway initiative

[Image: Josh Haner/The New York Times. Residents have criticized the Kent Avenue bike lanes in Williamsburg, the first step in the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative to create a 14-mile bicycle and pedestrian path.]

In a city where air quality was rated D last year, we desperately need more alternative commuting options. More and more people are turning to their bikes. So we need a lot more safe, practical bike lanes. Enter the ambitious, and much needed, plan of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is pursuing a structural reduction in greenhouse gas generation in NYC's fastest growing corridor - the Brooklyn waterfront by reallocating the public right of way in favor of cyclists and pedestrians. We are working with developers of tens of thousands of new units and city agencies to gear the new built environment around walking and cycling to de-link auto use from population growth. How? A compelling, inviting and efficient non-motorized corridor connecting 14 miles of waterfront communities and Manhattan via 3 bridges and a built environment where most needs and commutes can be accomplished without a car. The excessive use of taxpayer funds for motorized transportation is an environmental justice issue for most city taxpayers who do not drive but suffer the consequences of climate change. Community Board 1 in Greenpoint/Williamsburg voted 39/2 to remove parking on 3 miles of waterfront streets to create the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

You can help them win a grant from Green Mountain Coffee through their page on Just Means, the social and environmental initiative organization. Vote here!


Related post
brooklyn greenway initiative needs support - tonight!