Ocean Aid is a campaign created to raise awareness about the pollution collecting in our oceans and inspire community action to keep our oceans clean. Co-founded by eco-entrepreneur, Anthony Zolezzi, Ocean Aid uses new technology, social media and group collaboration to educate about the importance of oceans as our life support system.
Do You Have 5 Minutes To Protect The Ocean?
Oct 19th
Take the 5 for 5 Gyres Trash Challenge and you could win prizes from brands such as Patagonia and Klean Kanteen!
Garbage In, Garbage In
Mar 30th
The Ocean Conservancy’s annual list of top trash items found in the ocean reveals that our lifestyle of hyper-consumption is rapidly polluting the sea.
The effect upon our most sensitive and important marine ecosystems is toxic.
Fortunately, people are coming together to stop this assault on one of our most valuable natural resources: the ocean. Join us.
Sustainability Is Far From a Fad
Feb 2nd
When Bloomberg recently invited me into the discussion of a pro or con blog on whether sustainability is a trend or a fad, my first thought was; how can anything we do not be sustainable? If the definition is basically that whatever we take must be given back so we can live in relative bliss for the foreseeable future, then how can any corporate sustainability program be either a fad or a trend?
All humans know intrinsically that there is a natural order to things and that we cannot exploit the earth’s resources to the point of destruction. I believe this is something we’re all aware of, even though as a race there are times where our expanding this or overlooking that may appear destructive. But at the end of the day, we all know deep down that there is only one way for us to live harmoniously together and to keep our habitat viable for future generations, and that is to keep on replacing that which we take away.
This unwritten rule relates to all ecosystems, every manufacturing plant, every operating business on the planet. So to even suggest sustainability could be a fad is in my opinion an insult to More >
Efficient Repair Of A Water Leak Shows We Also Can Tackle Sustainability Issues
Jan 11th
This morning I arose especially early in hopes of getting to my office by 6:30am, and upon going outside, noticed water pouring through cracks in the street. I checked it out and determined it had to be coming from a broken water pipe, which made me realize just how critical it is to repair leaks in the existing municipal water system. In fact, each day, leaking pipes account for the loss of an estimated 7 billion gallons of water, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, due to the fact that a large part of the country’s water system is decades old and in need of replacement. However, as CNN reported last January, federal funding for this purpose has been cut significantly in recent years, and the state of the infrastructure has deteriorated as a result.
Being absolutely fascinated to learn first-hand how the Los Angeles Water and Power folks go about fixing a massive leak of this sort, I stuck around to observe how they planned to tackle the problem. It turned out to be an incredible display of technology, discipline and expertise. First they closed off the street, then proceeded to dig a deep hole that quickly filled More >
A Vast Amount Of Water Is Needed To Go With The Flow Of Development
Dec 9th
Last Tuesday morning I was able to do something that I hadn’t been able to do in a week, a very simple thing that most of us take for granted, and that was to use tap water to brush my teeth. When you’re traveling in South America, all of your water has to come from bottled or purified sources. There is no such thing as being served tap water in a restaurant, and none of the locals drink water that isn’t either bottled or boiled.
To really appreciate the relatively clean, safe water that flows out of the tap here in the U.S., you have to spend a few days in a locale where it doesn’t.
When you think of the infrastructure pipes, reservoirs, pumping stations and energy it takes to accomplish this, it is really quite overwhelming. Trillions of dollars will be required to provide the populations of developing countries with the benefits of potable, pathogen-free water of the sort that’s readily available to residents of more advanced nations. While this represents a big opportunity, just moving the water will require incredible amounts of energy. If it could be done using renewable sources such as wind and solar, that would sort More >
It’s High Time We Appreciated Clouds For Far More Than Just Their Illusions
Nov 15th
While flying out of New York last week with the sun setting in the west, I was witness to the majestic spectacle of clouds reflecting the sun’s rays, and it put me in mind of that old Joni Mitchell song about recalling “clouds’ illusions” and how we “really don’t know clouds at all.” Which is to say, I suddenly realized how clouds don’t get the credit they deserve. We tend to characterize difficult periods of our lives as cloudy ones, or use the idea of a “dark cloud” hovering over someone as a symbol of problems they might be having (as was done in the “Peanuts” comic strip). Even I have been known to feel dejected on occasion by the prospect of a cloudy day. And then it hit me just how much we fail to appreciate clouds and what they actually do for us, just as we take for granted so many of Mother Nature’s other incredible creations.
Clouds are in many ways like the rainforest or the oceans, but even more important, they are the vehicle for moving water from ocean to river or from ocean to atmosphere, and then to land. This is known in technical terms as More >
Awards Ceremony An Ideal Platform To Promote ‘Fun And Fame’ Remake Of The Green Movement
Oct 24th
This past Saturday night I attended the 21st Environmental Media Awards ceremony (the longevity of which is in itself is a major feat). Debbie Levin, the president of the Environmental Media Awards Association, has done an incredible job coordinating this event every year and deserves kudos for the having brought so many personalities from Hollywood and the entertainment industry on board. The presenters were “A list” celebrities such as Nicole Richie, Norman Lear and Amy Smart, while the award winners were movers and shakers ranging from Phil Conserva, producer on CSI, to Justin Timberlake. But while this is a very influential group, and although there were some 500 people present on the Warner Bros. lot for the presentations, it struck me that it really hasn’t made that much progress in reaching the public.
While the event itself was most certainly one in which “fun and fame” held center stage, the themes and the language used were basically no different than they have been for the past 21 years of the EMAs – simply more of the same “guilt and shame.” As I thought about it, I started to become somewhat disappointed both with the fact that there has been no “10X More >
