September 26, 2013 / Issue 147

     



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Environmental Quote
 
 

 

Mrs. Green's Life: Green Explosion? List 

  

Do not have a clue how to keep this one short but will do my best. If you don't want to read it all, I will make it easier for you.

The Short Version

 

#1 Mrs. Green has a new look and an evolving message. You will have to read below for this one.

#2 We all better care about climate change. It is threatening all life as we know it.

#3 We are wasting enough food on the planet to feed ALL of the hungry. We throw away tomatoes, potatoes, onions, you name it - because they don't look right or won't ship easily. As I write this I am sitting at 511 E. 12th Street in the East Village in New York City. I am pondering the expansion of Mrs. Green's World over the past five years and I can barely get my head around it so...why try? Just want to highlight my schedule since arrival and say, without hesitation, my passion for helping to create a global community of people who care about the planet has NEVER been stronger.

#4 You can do just ONE thing right now to make a difference. Vote today and tomorrow for the People's Choice for Arizona's Greenest Workplace (you certainly don't have to be in Arizona to show your good judgement and your support for sustainable businesses, schools and other organizations. We are ONE planet.

The Content Rich Version

Highlight #1

Mrs. Green Grows Up - The beginning of my Mrs. Green journey was all about how living green could be fun. It and I have evolved to realize that serious issues need to be addressed and I can help be a part of that by creating a global community of people who care about the planet. Living green has to be thoughtful and on purpose. It is a different day; our time for changes has got to be now. I truly hope you embrace the expanded vision of Mrs. Green's world and that you LOVE our new logo and our new vision statement. I will miss you, Little Red Head, and you shall forever be held lovingly in my big green heart! P.S. If you want to see the making of Mrs. Green's new look, check out this FUN, short video about "how it was made." 

Highlight #2

International Women's Earth and Climate Change Summit - There is no such thing as hyperbole when it comes to writing about this. (I can still hardly believe I got to attend.) This Summit was about women living on the front-lines of climate change who are ready to be active partners in dealing with it. Climate change truly is threatening all life as we know it on our one and only home planet. We gathered because we have a shared mission: To ensure a sustainable and just future and a peaceful and livable planet for ALL living things for generations to come. Even if I had high expectations about what to expect, they were far surpassed. I actually spent a little bit of time speaking with Jane Goodall and was shameless in asking to get my picture taken with her so that I will forever have a remembrance of one of the most remarkable human beings on the planet. When I met Vandana Shiva, I burst into tears from simply being in her presence. The only thing that I can wish for is that you will take the time, for your very own sake, to click on the link provided to step into the world I was blessed to experience. My thanks to Osprey Lake, author of Uprisings for the Earth and past guest on Mrs. Green's World Radio Network, for blessing my life with this invitation. My hope for a healthy planet is renewed and I am committed to being an active partner. Call to action: educate yourself and become engaged in a way that works for you.

Highlight #3

Food Tank NYC - Food Tank: The Food Think Tank was founded for the more than 7 billion people who have to eat every day. They offer solutions and environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty by creating a network of connections and information for all of us to consume and share. Who knew that I would be in New York to attend Food Tank's Food Waste Free NYC with presenters from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), The Green Table, the USDA, the EPA, Edible Communities and Ample Harvest? The green icing on the cake? I got to attend with Jacquie Ottman, the Green Marketing Guru and founder of We Hate to Waste - she' also known as Junkie Jacquie who truly does HATE to waste. Now, here are two green factoids from this content rich event. According to the USDA, roughly 133 billion pounds of food from stores, restaurants and homes was wasted in 2010 in the USA. The global waste number? 1.3 billion TONS of food, one-third of global food production, goes to waste every year. Call to action? We can all do our part every single day by buying fresh, sharing meals when we eat out and ALWAYS taking our own to-go containers so that we cut down on waste.

Highlight #4

(and TOTALLY in sync with all of the above) Arizona's Fourth Annual Greenest Workplace Challenge - Truth be told, after participating in the Summit and attending the Food Waste FREE NYC event, self-doubts crept in like a huge dark cloud. Am I doing enough to make a difference? Am I doing everything I can to spread the word about the shape our planet is in AND provide inspiration for what we can do? Is Mrs. Green's World strong enough to stand in the fire helping to lead the charge for change? YES, we are! Mrs. Green's Fourth Annual Arizona's Greenest Workplace Challenge is ALL about highlighting, celebrating and focusing on companies or organizations dedicated to making their workplaces sustainable from the inside out. It's about applauding any workplace for its efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle and that provide a healthy environment for employees. It's all about doing what we can to make a difference. Call to action? Vote today, and tomorrow until noon. You are just one click away to vote now!

Highlight #5

I actually got to spend an afternoon with Marissa Feinberg and numerous other bright, green, exciting human beings at Green Spaces. Hope, possibility, and change in action. Noteworthy: They are green from the inside out with almost all of their office interior fabricated from repurposed "stuff". Highlight? The old phone booth that Marissa found on Craig's List where one can go for a private conversation given the open space concept. Want to know more about Green Spaces and why it is so wonderful and so green? Listen to the podcast How Green is Your Workplace

 

Mrs. Green IS AT the Big (Green) Apple

 

  

Mrs. Green's World Radio Network is a media sponsor for the Go Green NYC Conference on September 26th as part of Climate Week. The conference tagline is so worth repeating: Get Empowered. Get Inspired. Get Connected.  And Mrs. Green says - get ready!

 

Will somebody just pinch me? I am here, I have been to S'well Bottle National Headquarters and two of my daughters and I met with Steve Ritz, the Green Bronx Machine, for a private tour. Oh my - how many pinch me moments allowed in one week?

Personal note re: dreams coming true. Two years ago I had a dream to come to NYC and meet many of the amazing people who have become a part of the Mrs. Green journey. Dreams you dare to dream really do come true.

 

UPCOMING SHOWS

 

September 28

Focus on our Future: A Global Vision

Joaquin Ruiz, University of Arizona, Vice President of Innovation and Strategy; Executive Dean, Colleges of Letters, Arts and Science; Dean, College of Science; Professor of Geosciences

Do you think there is more that I can add to the list of who this incredible man is?  Yes, I can say that he and his team are literally changing the world every day. As a scientist with equal abilities in chemistry and in geology, Dr. Ruiz addresses many first-order problems in the Earth Sciences, such as the development of new isotope systems for studying ore deposits and the tectonic processes involved in the growth and evolution of Mexico. His research team addresses problems ranging from the origins of life to present-day climate change. A content-rich show guaranteed! This show sponsored by The University of Arizona.

 

October 5
Focus On Our Future: Rethinking How We Deal with Forest Fires
Don Falk -  Associate Professor, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment
As a person who lost a cabin in one of the most devastating forest fires in the Southwest, what Don Falk has to say is of great interest to me - personally and professionally. According to Falk, there are at least three areas where we can rethink our relationship to forest fires, their causes and consequences. By far the most important factor is understanding and accepting the reality of climate change. The increases in area burned, for example, are driven by earlier loss of mountain snowpack as well as drier winters and warmer spring and summer temperatures. In other words, it's all about connecting the scientific dots. Are we doing fire suppression the right way? What can be done differently to help minimize the devastating impact of these increasing violent threats? Join me to find out. This show sponsored by The University of Arizona. 
 

October 12

The Unstoppable Green Machine

Steve Ritz Steve Ritz

Somewhere along his journey, I think Steve Ritz might have heard a voice say to him "Feel the Green Force, Steve, this is your destiny." We're fortunate he listened. Steve is a teacher in the South Bronx where he and his kids grow lush gardens for food, greenery - and jobs. He is changing the world in ways I am at a loss to describe. With others, he is helping build indoor edible walls, roof top gardens, gardens on deserted lots and creating triple bottom-line opportunities for his students. Translation: JOBS - sustainable jobs. His TED Talk website has over 525,000 views; what he is really creating is the most important thing of all, hope for the future. It will be an honor to interview this man. This show sponsored by Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona.

 

October 19
Smoking Them Out
Greg Walcher Greg Walcher
As soon as I read about Greg it was one of those "I've got to get him on the show." And so it is. Walcher has spent a lifetime working to conserve the environment, while providing the resources needed to sustain a prosperous economy today - a concept that has always made sense to me. His new book, Smoking Them Out: The Theft of the Environment and How to Take it Back, is an Olympic-level reality check to out-of-control environmental policies that are destroying the economy, costing jobs, and doing little to help the environment."The United States is quickly becoming the first country in the history of the world to adopt policies designed to ensure its own decline," writes Walcher. "Every day we see the growing use of environmental laws not for the environment but against people. It is palpable across a wide array of issues - endangered species, public land management, clean air, wetlands, energy production, and the regulation of water." Bring it on. This show sponsored by The Fairfax Companies. 
 

October 26

Creator of a Salad Revolution

Myra Goodman Myra Goodman, Founder, Earthbound Farm

This is another "just pinch me" kind of moment. I met Myra when I attended the Sustainable Foods Institute in Monterey, CA, this past May. She is the co-founder of Earthbound Farm and a cookbook author. At Earthbound Farm they make the connection between our health and the way we eat. Ready for this? Earthbound Farm became the FIRST company to successfully launch prewashed, packaged salad for retail sale. When they introduced their mixed baby greens or "spring mix" to restaurants and supermarket produce aisles, they literally started a salad revolution. Twenty-five years later, twenty-five years strong. And, I just have to add that the breakfast we enjoyed at Earthbound Farm was delicious, nutritious, beautifully presented and their team over the top welcoming and friendly. This show sponsored by Chapman Tucson.

 

November 2
The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
Heather White Heather White, Executive Director, ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP
The EWG has had more of a significant impact on my life and the life of many people in Mrs. Green's World than any single organization I have read about, interviewed or written about.  They are about safe cosmetics, about removing toxins from your home, about safe sunscreen for you and your children. They take NO government funding. They are 100% transparent.  Manufacturers either love them or figure out how to get on or OFF their "safe" lists - like The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen (safe and unsafe fruits and vegetables.)  This is such a great organization and I am honored to be interviewing Heather White.  This show sponsored by The Fairfax Companies.
Mrs. Green's World
GREEN TALK RADIO Show 
Please remember to tune in to Mrs. Green's World every Saturday at 12:00 pm PST, streaming on the Internet. 

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