Urban Re-Vision

On Mondays show,
Stacy Frost, Founder of Re:Vision joined us by telephone

From harnessing Kids power at play, to gravity powered lighting, Re:vision is challenging people through "COMPETITIONS FOR VISIONARY THINKERS"

"Growing people, not buildings"

"Why Re:Vision? It’s about seeing the world in a different way. It’s about seeing yourself differently...full of big ideas and new possibilities."

Making WHAT IF, WHAT IS.

Check out Re-vision TV

Recommended reading from Stacy

Enjoy!

Jeff

United Nations Foundation

Thursday, Reid Detchon joined us by phone and Larry Levine in studio.

Clinton Climate Initiative participant Reid Detchon is Executive Director of Energy and Climate at the United Nations Foundation.

Larry Levine President of United Nations Foundation, Monterey Bay Chapter joined us.

Reid is the key note speaker at the Steinbeck forum this Wednesday.

100% renewable energy in 10 years? A great target!

Jeff

Wed, Sep 24,

Walker Wells, AICP LEED AP,Director of the Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Communities Program
Global Green USA is based in Santa Monica, CA.

Urban planner, Walker will be speaking at West Coast Green this weekend

New Orleans project has received AMEX prize

His book is Blueprint for greening affordable housing

and his book, LEED for neighborhoods

We need a value shift to sustain World wide water security, nonproliferation of WMD's, promote Global literacy, Green affordable housing, recycling and promote social justice

His blog

Jeff

A double header

First, today is earth overshoot day.....(Tuesday)
Now, on with the show
Douglas Atkins, Ed.M., joined us in the studio.
He is the Executive Director of Chartwell School in Seaside, Cal.
LEED platinum rated, Green Building Rating System™ (57 points out of a 69 points max) Very few school in Ca. attain such a lofty goal
Chartwell School's 25 years in the making, in their new location for 2 years
google map (check out terrain map)
Sunlight, indoor air quality control and comforts are a big part keeping students attention, a comfortable place to be, A wise investment in education
Gardens, culinary arts, science, composting with sustainability are taught, absentee rates seem to be down.
"The solar system is expected to produce more than 53 million Watt-hours of electricity per year and will offset the production of 54,000 pounds of CO2 annually, the same as planting 8 acres of trees."

Call for tours
Outreach program is available for your community and your kids
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools
________________________________________________
On our second half hour, David Cross founder of SG blocks joined us by phone.
There are 45 million containers in use or storage in the US alone.
Each container makes 24-30 trips before they are recycled (bottles and cans wish)
Each container can be loaded or unloaded from a ship every 90 seconds.
Shipping containers get left behind due to our shipping heavy goods and receiving light goods.
As you can imagine, relying on containers as building materials, the closer to shippers the better, less shipping!!
Homes are built 20-40% faster than traditional homes, that means big savings.
There are some other perks. (natural disaster resistant)
At this point in time, 4 stories is the extent of height testing, soon to be 9 stories.
Check out the Harbinger house at West Coast Green(SJ) ,
Made of 5 shipping containers, It will be touring the states, yes, it gets built and rebuilt many times.
In case you need to move, finished home can be packed up and moved very quickly, instead of just tearing it down.
Some specifics, I am impressed!!!!
320 square feet every 15 Min.
Value-Cycling™.
Hurricane resistant
This looks, to me, like Lego's on steroids

Jeff

On Monday's show,

Architect Carol Venolia, Professor of eco-development at Dominican Univ. of Ca. in San Rafael.
www.dominican.edu
She also pens a Column for Natural Homes Magazine
www.naturalhomemagazine.com
Carol Venolia and Kelly Lerner have written "Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House".

Quite an extensive book that contains numerous ways to remodel the house you have, into a beautiful and comfortable home, recycling all along the way.

"Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House" will show you how to start with the home you have and transform it into an eco-paradise—on any budget.

More information and to View excerpts from the book.
www.naturalremodeling.com (home site)

Support sustainability in your community!!! Buy "Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House": from your local independent book store or buy on line here;
www.buildersbooksource.com

Heat and light from the sun,
cooling from shade and breezes,
what a concept!!

Bring Your Home into Harmony with Nature!!!

Jeff

Pat Murphy talks about peak oil

"My friends/Guys...Gals"

On Friday's show Deborah had the pleasure of interviewing Eugene R. "Pat" Murphy via telephone, it was eye opener to say the least!

Pat travels extensively , engaging people to begin the process of using our resources more effectively and reducing our dependency on fossil fuels.

Deborah and Pat discussed Cuba's dilemma when the Russians cut off almost
all of Cuba's fuel supply.

A great explanation of Cuba's crisis, and how it is a scary parallel to our current situation. "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil."is available for $20.00 plus shipping here;
http://www.powerofcommunity.org/cm/index.php

The link below is not to Pat's film, but it may spark more interest in our situation.

(Less than 10 min.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCiHpPkp3pU&feature=related

Pat has written a book, "Plan C" on this subject for you readers.
I'm sure a local book store will have it/can get it for you if not,
It can be found here for $19.95 at;
http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3992
Looks like a great bit of info on the blog too.

As you can see, I'm new at this, any comments are appreciated.

Jeff

Make Your House Cozy!

Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House is with us today.

During architecture practice she noticed the money and quality issues of building new houses were overwhelming.
Susanka found that her definition of home comes from the character of the space rather than the size.

When designing a home do you look for sustainable materials?

Absolutely. Luckily conferences like West Coast Green are inspiring and providing sources for fabulous educational opportunities.
Sarah will be speaking at West Coast Green this September 25-27Th.

It's incredible how we assume walls are there for good. Susanka says we should not be daunted by a wall.

Tear it down! Make your house cozy! Take a look at the rooms where you spend the least time in, and change what is keeping you from being comfortable in that room.

Be sure to check out Sarah Susanka at West Coast Green later this month.

Thanks for listening today!

Olana

Stand up and Make Your Voice Heard!

1 Sky are a solutions based group working towards creating 5 million green jobs, and reducing global warming gasses by 80% by 2050.

What can we do to reach those goals?

Energy efficiency and conservation through future-fitting our buildings, vehicles, and moving away from a carbon base fuel economy.

It's shocking in our carbon crisis we are still getting an outcry to continue drilling for more oil, when clearly that is not the solution.

Clean energy, less expensively produced, is what we need to seek out.

Is all of this possible?

Yes, we can live enjoyable, productive and positive lives without having such a consumer based society.

What's the tipping point?

The science community points towards 650 million refugees, massive spreading of disease, and devastating climate change impacts.

However, the other tipping point is NOW! Between us all here, ready to participate in change right now. This isn't the problem of someone else. It is ours!

What does Gillian think about our president candidates?

Both have plans sketched out to reach reductions in ecological impact:
Obama by 80% and McCain by 60%

At this stage there is no such thing as clean coal. 1 Sky does not support Nuclear power.

1 Sky has a list where you can sign up and become part of the e-advocacy campaign. They are hoping to expand their current list enormously.

Log on to Green Jobs Now to let our representatives know that the U.S. is ready for green and clean energy jobs.

1 Sky is sent to inspire people to participate in out political system. We are privileged to be able to vote, and voice our opinions. Let's do it!

Thanks Gillian, and thank you all for listening!

Olana

Let's Change by Design, not by Default

Annie Leonard, host of The Story of Stuff is with us today. The Story of Stuff is a 20 minute video that takes a look at our consumption patterns in the U.S. After spending 10 yrs. with Green Peace studying waste Annie gained a lot of knowledge. The process starts with extraction, then production, then distribution, then consumption, then disposal. Our global overshoot day has been inching forward and forward. It's taking longer and longer to replenish our capital.

Where did this all begin?

Advertising is one big reason.

We need to focus on valuing quality over quantity. We can refuse to participate in such a wasteful production & consumption system.

What about the encouragement to go spend money, boost the economy, etc?

Community building, sharing, and civic engagement should replace all this time spent shopping. Annie recommends changing by design, not by default.

As a society, we should be measuring our success by genuine progress, not corporate profit. If we did so things would all be a bit different.

It's rare that we think about the roots of where a product comes from. Think back, all the way to the mining of the metal. The actual cost of these products is far, far more then what we are spending at the cash register. In the U.S. the amount of happiness per unit of natural resources consumed is very inefficient.

What is incineration all about?

Three strong reasons why Annie opposes these:

1. Horrible toxic pollution.
2. Destroys valuable resources.
3. They are waste addicts. They require a constant stream of waste to keep burning.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of incinerator proposals in the U.S. Luckily, Gaia is taking serious measures to fight them. take a look at BAN as well.

What can we do?

Annie has 10 little and big things we should do. the first three are below, and you can find the rest on The Story of Stuff, which has been viewed by 4 million people as of now.

1. Change your light bulbs and your paradigm.
2. Recycle our trash and our elected officials. Lets take back our government.
3. Park your car and walk, and if you have to, march!

Thanks so much to Annie, and thank you all for listening!

Olana

Not Just a Pretty Face

Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face, is here with us today. Stacy has been working in the field of environmental health, and then began launching a research and advocacy effort. At age 17, before getting on the school bus, Malkan was exposing herself to over 200 chemicals. 17 carcinogens and 30 plus hormone disrupting chemicals.
Found was that certain chemicals phthalates (hormone disrupting specifically testosterone)exist in higher levels in women. After testing many products, phthalates were found in 70% of them. Shampoo, creams and other body products. Products that have "fragrance" tend to have phthalates. Males are also at risk.

The FDA doesn't have the power to oversee the cosmetic industry, unfortunately. That type of regulation doesn't exist in cosmetics. It's as if the FDA wasn't (until recently) aware that the skin is such an absorbing organ.

Is there a link between breast cancer and cosmetics?
Carcinogens have been found in low levels in all of the products that Malkan tested. Baby Shampoos, body wash, and bubble bath.
High levels of estrogen also leaves breast cancer as a risk, so hormone disrupting chemicals are of concern.

These issues are all connected. Chemicals end up in our streams, our oceans, our agriculture, our dinner plates, our bodies, and our ailments. What to do?

Pink Washing is a term which points a finger at beauty companies which hold pink ribbon events, promoting them selves as friends of the breast cancer victim, mean while using chemicals and carcinogens in their products which are causing breast cancer. What's important is asking the question, how can we stop women from getting this cancer in the first place?

The good news is that their are alternatives! PEG's, Parabens, and Sodium Laureth Sulfate are not necessary and companies are staring to find ways to make the product effective without these harmful chemicals.

There is a database called Skin Deep which helps us to find safer alternatives in body care. Look up the companies you have been using, and see how they rank on the rating system.
Whole Foods now has products with a sticker ensuring a Premium Body Care Standard.

What can we do?

Look at those labels! Share the Skin Deep website with your friends, family, and young girls. Look critically at what the beauty industry is telling us. If you drop a product, let the company know why. Be vocal about your actions!


A couple of Malkan's recommended websites:

Mom's Rising

Teen's for Safe Cosmetics

Stacy can be found at Not Just a Pretty Face.

email her at Stacy@safecosmetics.org.

Thank you Stacy!

Olana

Green is the Only Way to Go!

Hunter Lovins has shared some interesting information with us today. Building green increases labor productivity up to 16% because people inside can see better, are more comfortable, and aren't subject to toxic chemicals. You find that these folks actually want to be there, increasing productivity. Money is also saved on energy, because the infrastructure is designed to utilize the elements.

Take a look at Lovin's recommended web sites:

Live Neutral

Presidios School of Management

agenda 21

Have a nice day!

Olana