Green Career Central Blog

Bioneers Speakers Streaming Live Today, Saturday, Sunday

Bioneers, is a Northern California organization that brings environmental, social and scientific thought leaders together in an annual conference to discuss solutions to dilemmas using nature as model and inspiration as well as human innovation. 

This year Bioneers will be live streaming two speakers each day of the conference.  On Friday Sarah James and Michael Polan will be speaking beginning at 11:30 am PT  On Saturday Jason McLennan and Lily Yeh will be speaking beginning at 9:00 am PT. On Sunday Jerome Ringo and Annie Leonard will be speaking at 11:30 am PT.

Here is the link that will enable you to view these speakers.  

The National Parks: America's Best Idea, a 6-part PBS TV Series Beginning Sunday

Noted film maker Ken Burns and PBS have teamed up to produce "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," a six episode series beginning Sunday night September 27 at 8pm ET/PT.  The show will cover the history of the National Parks, the people that played a pivotal role in shaping national parks as well as the incredible scenic wonders the National Park Service conserves and protects. 

One of the major points of the film is how a youthful democracy chose to make the country's pristine places available to all the world rather than turning them into gated communities of exclusive homes or outdoor theme parks. In so doing, they put millions of people to work, during the Great Depression, to renovate the parks we continue to enjoy today.

Be prepared to be inspired! Enjoy the series.

Green Career Tip - Why We Need a Green Revolution: Insights and Opinions of Thomas Friedman

Are you looking for inspiration to make green changes now?

Last weekend my husband and I went to see Thomas Friedman, a best selling author and NY Times columnist speak about his most recent book, Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America.

This week's tip discusses the premise of Friedman's new book and some actions you can take to support the green revolution.

If we all start now, we have just enough time to solve this.

Read or listen to this article to learn how you can help revive America and save the planet.

Green Career Tip - You Are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring

Looking for inspiration?

Paul Hawken, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author, spoke to the 2009 graduating class of the University of Portland. His words were poignant, insightful, and inspiring.

Whether you are graduating with a new degree this month or you are ready to graduate from the business-as-usual economy...

read, or listen to, this commencement address and be inspired.

Human Footprint - Videos Illustrate Consumption of Average American

National Geographic produced an enlightening series (Spring 2008) that illustrates the consumption of the Average American. Human Footprint reveals the lifetime consumption of an average American including the resources needed to produce, package and transport everything consumed. The numbers staggering when you visually see exactly what we consume.

These are You Tube videos. The one I watched on Trash was under 3 minutes. Some eye-opening, gut-wrenching numbers!

This was posted on http://ecopreservationsociety.wordpress.com/...I found it through Facebook, so I don't have the exact link to the entire opening page. Each of these links will take you to the page with that video.

If you are looking for a problem to solve in your work or a cause to champion, these videos may give you the inspiration you are looking for.

The Human Footprint - Trash
The Human Footprint - Cars
Part One - Introduction
Part Two - Milk & Daily Industry
Part Three - Meat Consumption
Part Four - Eggs for a Lifetime
Part Five - Bread
Part Six- Fruit Consumption

See Amazing Photos of Energy Inefficiency and Energy Efficiency

Recent polls have indicated that Global Warming is moving down the priority list among Americans as jobs, the economy and terrorism now top the list.  There may be hundreds of speculative reasons to explain this drop.  But, maybe if we could just see more of the CO2 and other greenhouse gases and see where it is going and see how it is collecting in the atmosphere, we might be more willing to make changes to our daily habits to reduce emissions.  We might also be more willing to put Climate Change closer to the top of our priority list. 

National Geographic may not be able to photograph CO2 in the same way they can photograph a beautiful landscape, but they can photograph our daily life and show how we are contributing to and solving the problem of Global Warming simultaneously.  In this photographic slide show, some of the photographs taken with a heat sensing device show how remarkably inefficient our homes, cars and light bulbs are.  By making some modifications to daily life, like riding the Metro, drying clothes in the wind, and getting rid of old refrigerators we can reduce those unseen emissions and leave a healthy planet to future generations. 

Read the full Energy Conservation Essay for an explanation of the project.

Green Career Central's Global Photo Tour: Egypt

This week, with frigid weather touching so many areas of the United Sates, I decided it was time to visit someplace warm!! Join us for a tour of Egypt.

Fourteen years ago this week I was just returning from a three week trip to Egypt. Although I had traveled to the British Isles and France several times before, my trip to Egypt was an entirely different experience! The sacred places, the markets, and the culture left a lasting impression on me.

A couple of my favorite sites are included in this tour!

Abu Simbel - After arriving by plane from Aswan, we rounded a corner and found ourselves looking at this! The guard in white shows you the scale of this immense temple. What's particularly interesting is that this entire monument was relocated and reconstructed before the area was flooded when the Aswan Dam was built. Block by block this entire monument was moved to higher ground. When you take this tour you actually walk down the path way to the inner area of the temple. The scale is astounding.

Philae - Our tour guide was a graduate student when this temple was relocated to a larger island to prevent it from being flooded. Each block was numbered, moved, and put back in place. Can you imagine!? What struck me the most about this particular temple was the silence. Located as it was in the middle of the Nile, the only non-natural sounds you hear are the periodic boats that bring visitors to the island.

I also enjoyed this photo of dates drying in a palm grove. Reminds me a bit of some of the decorative images we saw on the tour of India.

Have you been to Egypt? What intrigues you about the photos in this tour?

Please note that Yann Arthus Berthand has updated his site. Unfortunately, the write up for vertical photos is someone obscured. I'm sure they will fix this when they realize this effect of their redesign.

Green Career Central's Global Photo Tour: Amazing Skies

Today we are taking a bit of a detour...Instead of visiting another country, we are exploring a different facet of the earth...the sky! I was inspired by a beautiful array of images I found today that show us the sky's amazing phenomenons!

How many of these have you witnessed? I believe I've experienced eight of the ten!

Have you ever experienced a sky event that's not mentioned here? Or what's your favorite memory of a sky experience? Share your thoughts below in a comment.

I have two favorite memories...

1. Soon after my father passed away, my Mom, brother and I went to a local tree lot to purchase our Christmas tree. It was near the edge of town at that time so there was plenty of empty space. As we approached we saw a very clear double rainbow with one of the rainbows "touching" the ground within our line of sight! A stunning experience.
2. When I was at Purdue for graduate school we had several major snow storms. The day after one of them I was walking to classes completely mesmerized by what I saw. The wind was picking up snowflakes from the previous day's snow storm. As the flakes flew, they created tiny prisms of light...where ever I looked! The world literally sparkled that day!

Take a moment to look at the sky.

Green Career Central's Global Photo Tour: India

As all eyes have turned to India this week in response to the tragedy brought on by terrorists, I thought it would be enlightening to visit India through the aerial photos of Yann Arthus Berthand.

As I reviewed the photos in this tour of India I was struck by the joy of their textile designs and decorative art in the courtyards of their home and the distinct character of the work they do. What a juxtaposition.

I was also aware of the number of times women and their rights (or lack thereof) were noted in the descriptions.

Now that I think about it, I'm not remembering any images of natural landscapes. All large vistas were agricultural or the impact of one industry or another.

What strikes you in this tour of India? Please let us know with a comment below.

Green Career Central's Global Photo Tour: Chile

On our Global Photo Tour this week I decided to go to a country I didn't know that much about: Chile.

I found a few surprises...the volcanoes, the sand, and the impact of mining on the country's lands.

I also was intrigued by the evidence of the extreme climate - dry in areas, very cold in others.

What do you learn about Chile from this week's Green Career Central's Global Photo Tour? It's always interesting to read other people's perspective on the countries we visit. Please join us by sharing your impressions!