One Percent Blog » barbara

More Than a Marathon, A Celebration

barbara — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:14:04 +0000

Stephen Ritz, Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson join Mad Marathon lineup; 1% for the Planet celebrates 10th anniversary

Waitsfield, VT — This July, Vermont’s Mad River Valley will host “The World’s Most Beautiful Marathon” the Mad Marathon, a 1% for the Planet event. While Sunday, July 7 is the official race day, the whole weekend is turning into a can’t miss summer event. The most recent additions to the weekend’s lineup include 1% for the Planet ambassadors Stephen Ritz, founder of Green Bronx Machine, and Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson, both musicians and Vermont natives — Nicole is well known for her stint on the third season of “The Voice”. “Dwight and Nicole” will perform on Friday, July 5 and Ritz will speak about his experience teaching students how to grow vertical ‘living walls’ on July 6^th.

Ritcher, Nelson and Ritz are new to the 1% for the Planet family, and excited to be ambassadors as 1% for the Planet celebrates its 10^th year.

“Dwight and I are looking forward to performing at an event that does so much good, both for the environment and local and regional communities,” said Nelson.

Ritz added, “The Green Bronx Machine is thrilled to come to the Green Mountain State to celebrate our commitment to 1% For the Planet; proof that no matter where you live, work and play, together, we can all make a difference!”

In addition to speeches, musical performances and the official marathon, the weekend will host a fun run for kids and showcase 1% for the Planet’s hometown of Waitsfield, offering participants the chance to enjoy the local Farmer’s Market and cuisine on Saturday before the race.

“We are so honored to have Stephen, Dwight and Nicole join us for this year’s Mad Marathon and the celebration of our 10^th year,” said Terry Kellogg, CEO of 1% for the Planet. “The 1% for the Planet family is big and continues to grow, adding nonprofits, businesses, ambassadors and media partners. This event allows us to highlight all of these different groups that come together through our network to make good. Honestly, we can’t think of a better way or setting to have our network celebrate ten years of giving back to Blue.”

1% for the Planet announced its partnership with the Mad Marathon earlier this year, making the third annual Mad Marathon the first marathon dedicated to environmental sustainability. All funds raised by the 1% for the Planet team will be split among three nonprofit partnerships: The Staying Connected Initiative, The Bay Circuit Trail and The Penobscot River Restoration. 1% for the Planet New England nonprofit partners also have the opportunity to create individual teams and raise funds for their organization.

Wide Open Spaces, Unpolluted Skies, Conservation Land, Sustainable Communities

barbara — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:46:13 +0000

Photo credit: Tom Meredith/USFWS

What region comes to mind? It’s northwestern New Hampshire and Maine; and it’s how large-scale habitat protection happens. Northern New England has been flagged as an invaluable ecological unit for adaptation to climate change so habitat protection is essential here. We can all benefit from supporting a local, grassroots approach to conservation in the Northeast corner of the US.

The Upper Androscoggin Watershed and High Peaks Region in New Hampshire and Maine exemplify what happens when private landowners and government work together for the ultimate benefit of the community and the planet.

This area has:

- Approximately 2 million acres
- Over 100 “Great Ponds” (i.e. greater than ten acres),
- Over 450 miles of named rivers
- Over 3,000 miles of perennial and intermittent streams
- Numerous mountains over 2,700 feet in elevation, the refugia zone for spruce fir forest during past climate warming events
- Large blocks of core conservation lands, building blocks for landscape scale conservation

It’s a valuable forested area and habitat that successfully demonstrates multiple use around conservation, outdoor recreation, sustainably forestry and healthy communities.

The region’s qualities have been recognized in numerous public vetted processes, e.g. the Department of Interior ‘America’s Great Outdoors’ Initiatives and the Nature Conservancy’s “Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region”.

An effort between the Appalachian Mountain Club, The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, and The Trust for Public Land is the collaborative that drives this plan. The goal is to build on and connect large continuous blocks of land. They do this by:

- Identifying contiguous blocks of land to protect key parcels
- Reaching out to the communities to garner input and ideally public support
- Brokering land transactions – identify new land funding, financing and ownership mechanisms
- Balancing land protection with economic development through sustainable forestry and outdoor recreation

Successes to date:

- 31,000 acres contiguous to the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge protected
- Over $20 million raised since 2005
- $5 million Maine Land Protection Bond passed in November 2012

Challenges to completing the project:

- Local misunderstandings that land protection reduces local taxes
- Lack of knowledge that fiber supplies and forestry jobs today are influenced by past intensive harvesting above sustainable rates and mechanization in the industry, not by land protection that permits sustainable forestry.
- Lower land prices in tight economic times are opportunities for conservation, but funding is difficult to achieve
- Partial dismantling of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC)

Call to Action

This initiative has targeted an additional 50,000 acres, requiring more than $20 million in acquisition costs that need to be raised to make it happen.

Currently almost one-third of this area has conservation protection. For the area’s full potential to be met, additional buffer land protection to and connectivity between the Mahoosucs, Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge, the Rangeley Lakes region protected lands and western Maine High Peaks region is needed.

Please consider donating directly to, joining and supporting the partner organizations doing this vital work:

Appalachian Mountain Club: The oldest US conservation and recreation organization with a focus on the northeastern US. It has been a leader in Northern Forest protection through its research, ability to mobilize outdoor enthusiast and to pull different interest groups together, and advocacy.

The Trust for Public Land: A national organization that makes land transactions happen. They have brokered protection of more than 200,000 acres in this region alone.

Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust: Maine based, works with state and federal government, conservation organizations, corporations and individuals to protect the unique character of northwestern Maine.

Contact Heather Clish, AMC’s Director of Conservation & Recreation Policy, hclish@outdoors.org, 617-391-6580 with any further questions.

1% for the Planet & Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust Announce Partnership To Increase Environmental Philanthropy in New England

barbara — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 20:38:27 +0000

June 6, 2012 | Waitsfield, VT

1% for the Planet in partnership with the Jessie B Cox Charitable Trust has launched a multi-year effort to increase environmental philanthropy in New England.

Founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia and Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet is an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of revenue to organizations focused in sustainability. The Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust and 1% for the Planet share an interest in the long-term preservation of New England’s unique environmental resources and are working to put the power of business to work for the planet.

With the support of the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, 1% for the Planet is dedicating a team, led by Barbara Friedsam, the organization’s New England Network Director, to expand business support for the environment initiatives in the region, such as preserving and enhancing New England’s large forests.

1% for the Planet’s global network includes 1450 member companies and 2800 approved non-profit partners. New England is home to over 80 member companies including The Skinny Pancake and Spindrift Soda and over 200 approved non-profit partners such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, Conservation Law Foundation and Clean Air-Cool Planet.

“In an effort to push the envelope of our social-environmental mission, … we are proud to make the commitment to join 1% for the Planet,” said Skinny Pancake co-founder/owner Benjy Adler. “We’ll donate 1% of our sales to grassroots environmental non-profits, with a focus on local food and farm-advocacy groups like NOFA-VT (North Eastern Farming Association of Vermont) and Intervale.”

To date, 1% member companies have donated nearly $1 million to New England non-profit organizations working on land conservation, climate change, water resource protection, renewable energy development, and environmental education. 1% members donate directly to approved non-profits allowing them to remain closely connected to the issues they care about.

1% for the Planet will continue to help businesses work for their communities, both locally and on a larger scale.

The new initiative will include heightening awareness in the business community about key environmental issues and targeted investment opportunities. Ultimately, this will enable collaboration between businesses and non-profits that generate long-term environmental and business benefits. Individuals can help by supporting 1% for the Planet member companies in their strategic giving choices and participating with our local partner NGOs. Please follow 1% for the Planet online for updates on regional developments.

“New England is fertile ground for both business and individual participation in the sustainability movement,” said Barbara Friedsam, New England Network Director at 1%. “We know New Englanders care about how business gets done. When businesses align their purpose with their consumers’ concerns, we can collectively increase the triple bottom line.”

That increased bottom line means making giving easier, which in turn results in happier communities and a healthier ecosystem.

“1% for the Planet applauds those businesses committed to donating 1% of their annual sales to environmental causes and welcomes inclusion of more members to the network. The work New England environmental organizations do to protect the unique resources in this region is critical, and 1% member companies can play a unique role in supporting their work. We are excited about the opportunity to grow our network in New England in collaboration with the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust” said Friedsam.

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About 1% for the Planet

1% for the Planet is an alliance of business financially committed to creating a healthy planet. In 2011, the 1% network donated an estimated $22 million to sustainability initiatives. Despite the challenging economic backdrop, over the last three years we have grown by more than one new member company a day. As a network, 1% is a leading funder of environmental work globally, making reinvestment in the environment a necessary tenet of doing business.

About the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust

The Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, a New England Philanthropy, funds projects in New England in the areas of health, education and the environment. In its environmental grant making, the Trust is focused on large-scale habitat conservation. For more information on the Trust, please refer to www.jbcoxtrust.org.

For more information, please contact:

Barbara Friedsam | New England Network Director

barbara@onepercenfortheplanet.org | (802) 496-5408

1% for the Planet team | George Soules Photography