energy efficiency

While Fossil Fools Ignore Climate Crisis EcoMedia Acts Aggressively to Protect Environment

Categories carbon producers, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, fossil fuels, green buildings, green education, News Media, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability, water conservation, wildlifeLeave a Comment on While Fossil Fools Ignore Climate Crisis EcoMedia Acts Aggressively to Protect Environment

The latest news on global warming could not be worse.  Climate scientists now agree that we won’t be able to restrict warming to just 2 degrees – which would have been bad enough.  Those in the know, including NOAA say there is no doubt that the world’s extreme weather is being caused by climate change.  And last week’s The Planet Under Pressure conference, made up of planet’s top scientific experts on the climate issued an urgent plea for action as we reach the tipping points for runaway global warming from which there will be no reversal or respite.

“Civilization is at risk,” they warned.

But no one is listening.  You don’t read these stories in your newspaper or on mainstream news sites or see them on your TV news.  The fossil fuel industry floods the airwaves and Internet with lethal lies and propaganda in a nonstop assault on reason and intelligence.  News of the Mega Millons lottery jackpot and the gunning down of individuals in American cities trumps the most important story of the last 100 years.  Distracted by the bread and circuses of our time and doomed by our own lizard brains half of the United States population believes that global warming is a hoax designed to make scientists wealthy.  Every Republican running for President of this country agrees with that ruse and vows to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency.  Nothing I do can change any of that.

Faced with this bizzaro world reality I have opted out of futile protests and demonstrations and chosen to do the only thing I can do – increase the amount of renewable energy, energy efficiency, tree plantings and sustainability practices in the most effective way I can.  Which is why I now work for EcoMedia, who is responsible for doing all of those things, and more.

Continue reading ➞ While Fossil Fools Ignore Climate Crisis EcoMedia Acts Aggressively to Protect Environment

Environmental Charter High School Gets Solar; Greenius Goes EcoMedia

Categories citizen volunteer, energy efficiency, environment, green building, green education, renewable energy, solar power, Sustainability, water conservation1 Comment on Environmental Charter High School Gets Solar; Greenius Goes EcoMedia
Alison Diaz (with scissors) along with ECHS staff and supporters about to cut the ribbon in front of Environmental Charter High School's new solar-powered greenhouse. (photo by Glenn Marzano)

I have seen the future and it looks like a solar-powered greenhouse, a solar-powered pump driving aquaponics, a non-toxic termite treatment for buildings, students growing their own fruits and vegetables on their high school campus irrigated by captured rainwater, and other sustainable practices paid for by grants from corporations with no strings attached.

The on-stage banner heralding the ribbon cutting event @ ECHS. (Courtesy of CBS EcoMedia)

In a still repressed economy during an era when “no new taxes” is the mindless mantra that forces cutbacks and the elimination of educational programs and resources, the only place the dollars are going to come from are nontraditional, innovative sources.  You can argue the merits of that if you want, but I’m done arguing. I just want to see projects get funded, renewable energy put to work, energy efficiency retrofits instituted, conservation measures adopted and sustainable practices replace business-as-usual before the climate crisis makes any positive action a moot point.

That’s why for the past week I’ve been working at my new job in Manhattan Beach where I’ve transitioned from the volunteer advocacy efforts I’ve been contributing since 2008 to a professional role in sustainability partnerships for CBS EcoMedia.  EcoMedia employs exactly the kind of nontraditional, innovative business practices I’m talking about through their EcoAd program – the kind of innovative business practices that found me on the campus of Environmental Charter High School (ECHS) in Lawndale on Friday morning to celebrate the ribbon cutting for their new solar-powered greenhouse.

Continue reading ➞ Environmental Charter High School Gets Solar; Greenius Goes EcoMedia

Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

Categories climate change, energy efficiency, environment, Sustainability7 Comments on Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

I ordered my new 2011 wall calendar for my office from Amazon.com because they had the best price and free shipping.  But I thought that free shipping meant “no cost” not “brain free.”  Apparently that’s not the case because Amazon sent me my 2011 calendar in a box big enough to ship a flat screen TV.  Check it out: When the box arrived via Fed Ex ground, I got excited thinking someone had sent me a large gift…I mean this box was huge, dwarfing my large sized trash and recycle bins…

Continue reading ➞ Amazon.com Packaging FAIL – Hey Jeff Bezos, Who is the Airhead That Packed This?

GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Hey, Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, I’ve Got Your New Direction Right Here!

Categories carbon producers, climate change, electric cars, energy efficiency, environment, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green jobs, plug-in cars, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Hey, Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, I’ve Got Your New Direction Right Here!

The Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce quietly parted ways with its executive director last week, telling local reporters only that it wanted to embark on “a new direction” that would include “more community outreach and more collaboration with local businesses and city government.”

Well I’ve got just the new direction the Chamber is looking for.

It’s a direction totally in line with its mission to “promote, educate and organize the businesses which serve our residents” and will instantly deliver on its desire for community outreach and collaboration with both businesses and city government.

The Green Idea City movement has been slowly building since the Hermosa Beach City Council embraced it at its January goal-setting workshop, as then-Mayor Michael DiVirgilio outlined in his March article in the Daily Breeze.

Read the rest of the story on Hermosa Beach Patch.com

GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Top 10 Green Champions in Hermosa I’m Most Thankful For

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, environmental legislation, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, green building, green jobs, plug-in cars, politics, recycling, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on GREENIUS ON PATCH.COM: Top 10 Green Champions in Hermosa I’m Most Thankful For

When it comes to the holiday season I’m a Thanksgiving kind of guy.

I love everything about T-Day: the focus on gratitude and appreciation, the gathering of family and friends, the sharing of a feast we’ve all contributed to, and best of all, its non-denominational inclusiveness.

In a year when there was hardly anything on the national environmental scene to be thankful for (and frankly plenty to flat out freak out over) it’s been the right time to think globally and act locally, especially if that locality happens to be Hermosa Beach where you have green champions such as:

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON HERMOSA BEACH PATCH.COM

Sure, AB811 is Dead & Buried, But There’s Still Green Work for Contractors!

Categories energy efficiency, environment, green building, Saving Energy1 Comment on Sure, AB811 is Dead & Buried, But There’s Still Green Work for Contractors!

Tired of waiting for the green economy to start offering green jobs that pay real money?  Wait no more if you’re a contractor here in the South Bay of California because the cavalry has finally arrived in the form of the L.A. County Energy program.  We’ve got 30,000 homes to upgrade and contractors are needed for the before, during and after segments.  You’ll be hearing plenty about this from the mainstream media next month, but right now you can get make your move ahead of the crowd thanks to your Creative Greenius and my pals at the South Bay Environmental Services Center .  Just read the graphic and then click on it to get all the details.

Greenius on Patch.com: Biking Our Way Toward a Carbon Neutral Fiesta

Categories Bicycles, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, fossil fuelsLeave a Comment on Greenius on Patch.com: Biking Our Way Toward a Carbon Neutral Fiesta

After the overwhelming success of the inaugural bicycle valet operation at the Memorial Day Fiesta Hermosa, filling our free parking lot to capacity for all three days, those of us who worked to make it happen set our sights even higher for the upcoming Labor Day Fiesta.

Even though we took care of 800 to 1,000 bicycles per day over Memorial Day weekend, and made visiting the Fiesta a no-hassle, groovy good time for all those riders, we’re not satisfied.

We are now looking to park three times that many bikes each day over Labor Day weekend. Imagine us taking 7,000 to 9,000 cars off the roads over those three days and replacing them with bicycle riders.

How’s that for a greenhouse gas cutting vision?

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON HERMOSA BEACH PATCH.COM

Greenius on Patch.com: Redondo’s Most Important Vote Has Nothing to Do With Zoning

Categories carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, environmental legislation, fossil fuels, Ocean, renewable energy, Saving EnergyLeave a Comment on Greenius on Patch.com: Redondo’s Most Important Vote Has Nothing to Do With Zoning

Although local temperatures have been unseasonably low most of this summer, much of the rest of our planet has been burning (Russia’s historic fires), melting (Greenland glacier chunk breaks off, Arctic Sea Ice Loss), overheating (record heatwaves), or experiencing the extreme weather conditions climate that scientists have been warning about for decades now.

Regardless of what polling of a mostly misinformed and ignorant general public shows, the overwhelming and undeniable consensus of the world’s climate scientists, the people who specialize on the subject, says that we’ve pumped too much greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuels into our atmosphere and it’s overheating global temperatures in the air and in the ocean.

Not surprisingly the fossil fuel industries have spent hundreds of millions trying to con people about what’s happening and focus blame somewhere else. They’ve been doing exactly what the tobacco industry did until the stack of dead bodies from lung cancer victims got too big to ignore.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON REDONDO BEACH PATCH.COM

Greenius on Patch.com: Lessons Learned on Carbon Neutral City Committee

Categories carbon producers, citizen volunteer, climate change, energy efficiency, Environmental Politics, fossil fuels, renewable energy, Saving Energy, sea-level rise, solar power, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on Greenius on Patch.com: Lessons Learned on Carbon Neutral City Committee

After eight months of working directly with Mayor Michael DiVirgilio to introduce and launch the Carbon Neutral City initiative, I stepped aside two weeks ago to focus more on the surrounding South Bay communities and to play a different role in Hermosa.

It’s been a rewarding and exhilarating 34 weeks since I first sat down with DiVirgilio, Dency Nelson and Robert Fortunato at the Planet Earth Café to propose that Hermosa Beach become the first municipality in Southern California to go carbon neutral and rebrand itself as the “Green Idea City.”

I’ve learned a lot over that period.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY ON HERMOSA BEACH PATCH.COM

The Big Green Bus is Coming to Manhattan Beach!

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, energy efficiency, environment, green education, recycling, renewable energy, Saving Energy, SustainabilityLeave a Comment on The Big Green Bus is Coming to Manhattan Beach!

The sensationally sustainable Sona Kalapura is bringing the Big Green Bus to Manhattan Beach on August 2 and August 3.

The Greenius will be there both days to help support Manhattan Beach’s efforts and get to hang with some of the greenest, smartest and most environmentally hip people I know anywhere.