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An Innovative Program Helps Residents Protect Their Water (video)
Janaia Donaldson, Peak Moment
Water is a precious resource we can't live without. Pat Pearson educates Olympic Peninsula citizens with a "Water Matters" campaign and "Shore Stewards" program for shoreline residents. New homeowners receive a "Welcome to Your Watershed" packet, while volunteers build rainbarrels to catch roof rainwater for gardens. Episode 80.
(6 November 2007)

Environmentalism With a Social Conscience
Joliange Wright, The Nation
The face of the environmental movement is changing. No longer strictly the domain of nature enthusiasts, a new socially conscious environmentalism is becoming mainstream. In Oakland, teenagers from poor neighborhoods are learning to install solar panels. In the Bronx, gardens are sprouting up on rooftops. Indigenous Americans in Hawaii, New Mexico and Minnesota are collaborating to keep their traditional food supplies free from genetically modified inbreeding. Social justice and environmental movements are creating alliances that broaden the possibility of who will benefit from the greening of America.

Building bridges between social justice activists and nature freaks isn't as hard as it sounds, as demonstrated by the eighteenth annual Bioneers Conference October 19-21 in San Rafael, California. Since 1990, pathbreaking Bioneers--biological pioneers--have provided a forum for activists from around the globe to share visions of combined social and environmental sustainability. Farmers, scientists, educators and others gather to connect their issues and create solutions.
(7 November 2007)
Also at Common Dreams.

Taking the tasty approach
Cliff Newell, Lake Oswego Review (Oregon)
Eric and Stephanie Cha have discovered the perfect way to help their children develop an appreciation of sustainability: Cookies.

The West Linn couple has remodeled their home into a bastion of sustainability and eco-friendly living.

But the aspect that means the most to 5-year-old Natalie and 2-year-old Ethan is the oven, which is capable of some remarkable and sustainable things - like transforming frozen dough into hot delicious cookies within 11 minutes.

“It cooks really fast,” Stephanie said, “and that really helps with two young children.”

“The speed-cook oven cooks food four times as fast as a regular oven,” Eric said, “and there’s no pre-heating. We’ve been using it a lot.”

All of the Chas’ other cooking appliances are just as fast. The induction cook top has magnetic fields that heat pots and pans very fast and with the utmost efficiency. The surface doesn’t heat up, and the pan does not become hot from an element, but instead from the most direct application of energy.

“I’m a tech guy,” Eric said. “I really get into this stuff.”

...Oddly enough, just a couple years ago Eric was not sustainability oriented at all.

“He was just part of the regular culture,” Stephanie said. “Sustainability wasn’t a big thing in the Midwest, where we grew up.”

But one day Eric read an article about Peak Oil and Climate Change and became a convert to earth-friendly living.

“It really seemed to make the most sense,” Stephanie said. Even beyond Peak Oil and Climate Change theories, “it came to make sense on its own.”

“After our eyes were opened, we saw a lot we could do, and it’s fun,” Eric said.

...There was also a deeply spiritual reason for adopting a sustainable style of living.

“For us, as Christians, God entrusted us with taking care of the earth,” Eric said. “If we err, we choose to err on the side of conservation.”
(8 November 2007)

Green Computing Update, Part 1: Data Centers
Jeremy Faludi, World Changing
It's been a while since we've done a comprehensive article on green computing. So much is happening in this industry that it won't all fit into one article. With this first update, I'll focus on data centers; next week's second update will focus on green personal computers, components, and services.

Before getting started, though, it must be said that greening the computer industry is touching off an unprecedented level of cooperation and information-sharing among companies, government, and laboratories.
(7 November 2007)