Earthkeeper heroes

How did you spend your summer vacation?  In China, more than 5,000 students spent it on their feet, participating in the Green Long March – the country’s largest student conservation movement – traveling a cumulative 2008 kilometers and engaging thousands in environmental dialogue along the way.  (We think it sounds a lot like the summer our friends on the Big Green Bus have had … only without the bus.)

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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One more reason to love America’s favorite pastime:

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.

The Olympic spirit is alive and well in Qingdao … but six weeks ago, it was uncertain whether this coastal city in east China would in fact be clean enough to serve as the official sailing venue for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

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.

While our own Earthkeeper heroes Reverb are hard at work this summer greening concert tours and educating music fans across the US about environmental sustainability, similar efforts to green the music scene are creating a positive impact in other parts of the world.

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.

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