Our Earthkeeper Hero Agent 350 shared his experiences with the Green Long March in a recent blog post and also in the following video.  You don’t need to understand Chinese to be able to see and hear the enthusiasm in the students participating on the march; they’re optimistic, energetic, and clearly committed to their effort to preserve the environment.

We live in a marvelous, modern age of technology – technology that has its place and plays a critical role in countless initiatives underway to help stem global warming.  But campaigns like the Green Long March remind us that positive, powerful change can also come, more simply, from putting one foot in front of another.

Congratulations to the Green Long Marchers on a successful journey … and for making the most of their summer break.

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Major League Baseball is joining forces with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to support and coordinate environmental stewardship efforts in virtually every Major League Baseball club across the US.  Under the collaborative “Team Greening Program,” Major League clubs will be able to share best environmental practices and information on everything from offsetting carbon emissions from team travel to establishing recycling programs and incorporating environmental language into contracts and purchasing policies.

Our own Earthkeeper Heroes on the Big Green Bus took time out from their cross-country tour to talk with Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist for the NRDC, about the Major League Baseball partnership … and the incredible potential for environmental education and impact that lives within our nation’s greatest ballparks. 

Click here to read Big Green Bus blogger Andrew Zabel’s reflections on the inspiring conversation … and visit the NRDC Greening Advisor™ website for more information about how your favorite team is working to go green.

• eco-village (also known as the place Reverb does some of its best work)
• carbon footprint (calculate yours here)
• food miles (as in, the fewer food miles between your dinner’s origin and your kitchen, the better)

The fact that environmental terms like these are working their way into mainstream culture and language is a positive sign; awareness begets action … and action creates impact.

If the Chambers dictionary editors are open to suggestions for the 12th edition, we’ve got one: it’s a 12-letter word that starts with “E” and means, “keepers of the earth” … 

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At the end of June, Qingdao was suffering from an outbreak of thick algae that affected 5,000 square miles along the city’s coastline – too thick even for boats to cut through.  Experts say the “algal bloom” is likely the result of recent heavy rains, pollution and climate change.

Algae on the coastine of Qingdao.  AP photograph.

Here’s the bright side to the story:  Agent 350 (our own Earthkeeper Hero), was in China to witness the algae outbreak – as well as the subsequent cleanup effort by more than ten thousand local residents.  You can read Agent 350’s account of the experience here.

Chinese fishing boats have cleared 100,000 tons of algae.  EPA photograph.

Whether the Qingdao cleanup effort came about as the result of Olympic pride (or shame), or because of government mandate or Olympic committee pressure – one thing’s for certain: the result is a testament to the limitless power and potential of engaged citizens.  An estimated one thousand fishing boats helped to remove more than 100,000 tons of algae from Qingdao’s waters … restoring the city’s harbor in time for the Olympic fleets to safely sail.

Our thanks to the Guardian website for sharing these and other inspiring images of the Qingdao cleanup.

The Guardian website features an inspiring video about the annual Roskilde Music Festival in Denmark – an annual event that draws an estimated 80,000 people annually (and all their trash).

In recent years, event planners have gone to great lengths to make the popular music festival less environmentally-impactful by encouraging attendees to recycle their waste and personal belongings traditionally abandoned at the end of the 4-day event (over 1,600 sleeping bags were donated to the homeless after a recent Roskilde Festival) and by offering additional incentives in the form of a cash refund for cups, cardboard and drink containers returned to collection stands.  It is estimated that an astounding 97% of cups used at Roskilde’s concession stands are brought back for recycling … and many attendees have recouped the cost of their ticket while helping to keep the environment clean.

The potential for environmental impact within the music industry isn’t limited to the live concert scene.  The July issue of Fast Company magazine highlights individuals (including Reverb) who are greening all aspects of the business – from artists like Jack Johnson, recording music with the help of solar power to music distribution execs like John Esposito, working to eliminate plastic jewel cases for CDs. 

Now if they could just find a way to make solar-powered lighters for us to wave during our favorite live power ballads …

In Chicago, a group of 13-year old kids are spending their summer not singing campfire songs or tying lanyards, but learning about geothermal heating and cooling, greenroofs and other elements of sustainable design.

The best part?  The program has inspired these teenagers to draw up plans and make recommendations for how to green the cultural center building where they meet twice a week, turning their summer learning into sustainable action.

Earthkeeper hero Elizabeth Redmond spent a day with these teens last week to talk alternative energy and share her POWERleap technology, resulting in a great hands-on, active learning experience for everyone.

Elizabeth shares more photos and her thoughts about the day over on Changents.com.  For more coverage of POWERleap, check out this recent blog post on EcoGeek or last week’s alternative energy program as heard on the Boston-based National Public Radio show, Here and Now.

Big Green Bus blogger Andrew Zabel notes, however, that even the simple pleasure of skiing down a snowy slope on a sunny day is not without guilt:    “… the carbon dioxide emissions from lifts, or in the case of our July adventure, an SUV, reduce the likelihood that we’ll get to enjoy a similar experience in the future.  In a warmer world, mountain snowpack in the Rockies will rarely if ever last into July.”

The good news?  The experience left the bussers relaxed, rejuvenated, and all the more committed to their journey in the name of alternative fuel education.

Click here for more breathtaking snow photos and here for the rest of the blog post about the Big Green Bus team’s summer ski adventure.

At least that’s the notion behind The Canary Project – one of our Earthkeeper Heroes – a husband and wife team that use artwork and visual media projects to convey the impact and urgency of climate change.

The Canary Project in Spain

Susannah Sayler and Ed Morris have traveled all over the world (recent trips include Antarctica and Madrid), photographing both landscapes that are being impacted by climate change and those working to either adapt to it or mitigate it.  The result is powerful, thought-provoking images intended to raise environmental awareness and inspire action through a medium that is universally understood.

Ed and Susannah’s most recent excursion took them to southern Spain, where they photographed the Abengoa solar installations and learned first hand about the 300 megawatt platform currently under construction which, when complete, will be the largest in Europe – drawing enough energy from the sun to power the entire city of Seville.

The solar receptor tower at the Abengoa’s solar plant

Learn more about the Canary Project, their climate-inspired journeys and the artwork they create at Changents.com.�

With every stop, the Bussers are spreading the good green word and growing their fan base.  There’s something undeniably friendly about a bright green school bus — packed with bright, enthusiastic college students — that invites onlookers to come closer, take interest, and listen to the story of this passionate team and their effort to educate America about the importance of alternative fuel, one city at a time.

Sadly, we don’t have enough vacation time banked to join the Big Green Bus team on their summer tour.  But we’re following their every move through their blog, video posts and podcasts on Changents.com (and now you can, too).

And we’re not the groupies following from afar …the Boston Globe has taken a shine to the Bussers and their mission as well.  Click here for the Globe’s feature story on the “Big Green Machine Dream Team,” and follow their ongoing coverage through the Globe’s travel blog.

Roll on, Bussers.  Here’s hoping for a smooth ride, copious veggie oil and greener days ahead.

This was the topic of conversation in our office this morning – nostalgia inspired by the new video Reverb posted on their story board at Changents.com.

The answers to the question ranged from Dire Straits (1979, Providence, RI) to the Charlie Daniels Band (1982, Oxford, Ohio) to Boyz II Men (1994, Philadelphia). Regardless of the band, the venue or the date, our team of concert-goers agreed that their first concert was a rite of passage into the wonderful world of live music. And that on one hand, the experience of going to a concert hasn’t changed much over the years; on the other hand, it can be and often is a much more enriching experience that transcends the music.

Reverb is one of the driving forces behind the trend to educate and engage both the musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability. This summer, at concerts featuring John Mayer, Jack Johnson and the Dave Matthews Band, the bands are using bio-diesel to fuel their buses and generators. The on-site caterers are using biodegradable products and among many other things, there’s a commitment to both waste reduction and recycling.

As for the fans, if they carpool to a DMB or John Mayer concert this summer they could win DMB and John Mayer prizes. Through a partnership with PickupPal, Reverb supports this program in a fierce acknowledgement of the fact that 80% of the carbon footprint of a concert is from fans driving to and from the show. Once they arrive at the show, fans are greeted with a festival-like atmosphere in the Reverb Eco-Village where they can learn about green technologies, local and national non-profit groups dedicated to environmental sustainability, and carbon offset programs. Fans can also register to vote, participate in Eco-Trivia contests and sample eco-friendly consumer goods.

Whether you cut your concert-going teeth on hard rock, a little bit of country or something in between, there’s something uniquely powerful about a live music concert. Hats off to Reverb for realizing the opportunity to add environmental sustainability to the playlist — yet another wonderful addition to the 21st century music experience.