News to me, but definitely not to the pop-culture conscious middle and high school students who teamed up with member company TREW Gear in Washington and non-profit partner Envirolution in Nevada for recent events.
Chris, John and Tripp from TREW spent the morning last Thursday with a class of 7th graders from The Dalles Middle School exploring a piece of protected land outside of Dallesport, WA. Their “bioblitz” was run by the folks at the Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute, the recipient of TREW’s 1% donation.
30 students joined several volunteers from Columbia Gorge and TREW to catalogue the incredibly diverse ecosystem they found just outside town. They discovered water beetles, a scorpion, sparrows and turkey vultures, various kinds of indigenous vegetation, and checked out a pond formed more than 13,000 years ago. As TREW front man Tripp pointed out, “realizing that in just this small area there is so much variety of life can help these young kids to appreciate the even more monstrous diversity of our planet.”
After the Blitz the TREW Crew headed north to ski a recent dump of spring powder and we turned our attention to Nevada.
The coalition, known as GREENevada (Growing Resources for Environmental Education in Nevada) launched a High School Sustainability Plan competition in November and held final presentations on Earth Day. Nevada Governor Bryan Sandoval was on hand, along with experts from the renewable energy industry and academia.
Students from nine high schools competed for $28,000 that they could use to implement sustainability plans they entered in the contest. The money, awarded as part of a $50,000 Pepsi REFRESH grant, will allow students to address environmental challenges they identified at their schools through energy audits and consumption analysis.
Events like this are empowering the next generation to be proactive about addressing climate change. At 1% we’re thrilled to see member companies and non-profit partners teaming up with youth to create positive change. Us old folks might even learn what a Bieber is in the process.
With the 41st Earth Day mere days away, innovative member and NGO partnerships have been streaming in. Here’s a few more to get you in the spirit…
-For 1% non-profit partner San Diego River Park Foundation, Earth Day is just business as usual. With park and river clean-up brigades canvassing local areas weekly, their volunteers have removed 1.3 million pounds of trash from the San Diego River in the past few years. In executive Director Rob Hutsel’s words “We are at it again on April 23rd as we tackle a new stretch of the river. We anticipate more than 100 volunteers joining us.” To join the April 23 San Diego River clean-up project on April 23, please visit their website for additional details (and get inspired by enthusiastic river clean-up volunteers below!)
-One of our newest members, Ohmlop, is debuting their 1% membership with a $1 donation for every connector cable sold in April to the Basel Action Network (BAN). An industry trailblazer, Ohmlop’s USB, iPhone, and iPad are completely free of PVC and are covered instead by braided cotton. Their partnership with BAN, whose mission is to end environmental degradation and social injustices caused by the electronic waste trade, is particularly well-aligned!
-Get a discount on organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee from 1% member Grounds for Change. Use coupon code PLANT-A-TREE-15 to save 15% and they will plant a tree for each order received using that code.
-Patagonia Footwear Advocate Weeks are taking place nationwide this week and throughout the rest of the spring. Inspired by the 1% for the Planet Advocate Moc, the Patagonia Footwear team has partnered with Patagonia stores and independent retailers to help raise awareness and funds for local conservation efforts. During Advocate weeks, Patagonia Footwear will donate $10 to local conservation organizations selected by the retailer. Check out the full listing of events to find an event near you!
BREAKING: Our members in France are now celebrating their 100th 103rd member! But before we missed the 100th member party entirely, our very own Marketing VP, Melody, caught up with 1% member / photographer Emmanuel Donfut from his company Balao for a Skype interview and inspiring slideshow. Watch a couple minutes in for a view of 1% in France through a camera’s lens.
With this aptly chosen reenactment of the famous French Revolution painting, Liberty Leading the People, member companies on the French Riviera celebrate a present-day tour de force: 100 members of 1% for the Planet… and counting!
Getting members together for a networking event is a great way to share sustainability stories, recruit prospective companies to join, collaborate around a new giving project, or show off the great people, companies, and non-profits behind 1%. Big thanks — and CONGRATULATIONS — to the 1% members in France for expanding the pool of funding going to environmental projects each year.
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Join us Wednesday, May 12th, at 1:00 pm EDT (New York time) for a brown bag lunch call with Woody Tasch, founder and president of Slow Money, a nonprofit that connects investors to their local economies.
Today, a growing movement stands behind the idea that our lives would be richer if money would just slow down a bit. By directing our money into more local enterprise (remember the “buy local” and “eat local” movements?) the Slow Money team says we can take a vital first step toward building what they call a ‘nurture capital industry.’ But the truth is, investing locally just isn’t easy at this point. Take, for example, our retirement savings: when we put money away, those funds are teleported into a global capital market that shuffles around 3 trillion dollars each day. Imagine putting this money to work locally.
Next Wednesday, Woody Tasch will explain to us how moving towards more local economic principles can benefit our planet and everyone involved.
Enter your contact information below to sign up for the call. Then keep an eye out for an email will all the call-in instructions. The call, including a question and answer session with Woody, will last about an hour.
Registration is no longer available — this call has already taken place.
We’ve posted the recorded call above!
About Woody Tasch and Slow Money: Slow Money is a new nonprofit organizing an international movement to bring money back down to earth.
Founded by Woody Tasch, a pioneer in merging investing and philanthropy, Slow Money’s mission is to build local and national networks, and develop new financial products and services, dedicated to:
• investing in small food enterprises and local food systems;
• connecting investors to their local economies; and,
• building the nurture capital industry.
Can’t make the call? No problem — you can still submit a question. Just send an email with your name, location, and question to brownbag@onepercentfortheplanet.org. We’ll post the full audio recording of the call right on this blog following the call, so you can always peruse past BBL calls on your own schedule.
This Saturday we encourage you to drop all plans, grab your circle of friends and family, and join the big circle, our global community, in action for 1% for the Planet Non-Profit Partner 350.org‘s International Day of Climate Action. Voice, act, dance, paddle, ring, play, sing, whatever you can offer, in show of your support for the number 350, representing 350 parts per million, the scientifically backed “safe upper limit” for CO2 in our atmosphere. With creative events and gatherings across the globe, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with this powerful message that affects us all. Click here to find out what’s happening nearest you.
How are we celebrating? You can find us at Vermont’s 350 Dance Party at Higher Ground in Burlington. Headlined by 1% for the Planet member Barefoot Truth (member since Jan. ’08) the show will be simulcast online and on cable throughout the state so all can join.
1% for the Planet will also have a presence in New York City, circumnavigating Manhattan Island with a group in kayaks stenciled by area students.
Calling all 1% for the Planet members, if you’re participating in a 350 action this Saturday, please write me at kate@onepercentfortheplanet.org. We’d be happy to share your support with updates to our blog post here!
This call has already taken place. Listen to the call streaming!
Or download the entire file. Right click on this link, then “Save Link As…”.
About the call:
2009 could mark the most significant year in climate change history as world leaders meet in Copenhagen this December to tackle a new plan for curbing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently, our atmosphere carries over 387 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide – the leading cause of global climate change. Our top climate scientists (James Hansen, Nicholas Stern, Rajendra Pachauri, and Al Gore) have indicated that a safe climate future rests at 350 ppm (or less). Actions across the globe will take place on October 24th - the International Day of Climate Action – to help spread awareness around this number and the forthcoming release of the United Nation new international climate change treaty.
Join 350.org’s Bill McKibben this Thursday for a briefing on this historic time in climate change and how you (and your organization) can get involved.
The call is open to everyone, so please spread the word!
Reserve your spot now for the Bill McKibben and 350.org climate change briefing on Thursday, September 24th, at 1:00 p.m. (EDT – New York time)
Space is limited, so sign up early! We’ll send you a confirmation email and the call-in information before the call, as well as information on upcoming events (you can always unsubscribe from future emails with one click).
About Bill and 350.org:
An American environmentalist and writer, Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign. This October 24, 350.org is organizing the 350 International Day of Climate Action, with thousands of events planned at iconic places around the world. Bill frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. McKibben is active in the Methodist Church, and his writing sometimes has a spiritual bent. More about Bill here →
About the 1% Brown Bag Lunch Series:
This new conference call series from 1% for the Planet aims to help educate our 1% community — members, partners, and friends — about the latest environmental topics that experts in the 1% network are working on. We’re currently looking into the topic of climate change and how individuals and organizations alike can get involved. Earlier this summer, 1% non-profit partner Clean Air-Cool Planet led our first 1% Brown Bag Lunch Series call to brief us on climate and energy legislation in the U.S. For upcoming calls, please submit your ideas to brownbag@onepercentfortheplanet.org.We are picking upcoming topics based on your requests.
Some like it hot, but tonight on The Colbert Report acclaimed author and 1% for the Planet Non-Profit Partner Bill McKibben of 350.org will teach us all a thing or two about how we really, really need to cool it down. We encourage you to tune in to The Colbert Report on Comedy Central at 11:30 pm ET and PST, (or you can see the taped version on The Colbert Nation website here). Two brilliant men with a knack for hilarity, addressing a planetary issue with a clear call to action, this promises to be a great show.
On Tuesday, July 28 at 1:00 pm (EST), we will hold the first of our 1% Brown Bag Lunch conference call for our 1% community of 1% Member businesses and approved environmental organizations.
Our good friends and 1% Recipient organization, Clean Air–Cool Planet, will lead the first call of the series. For about an hour, we will learn about the latest in climate and energy legislation in Washington, D.C., the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which currently resides in the Senate. The historic bill aims to put a price on the emissions of greenhouse gases created in the United States. The plan may transform the way we support our economy’s growing energy demands, use our transportation systems, and invest in businesses and technology.
If you are a 1% Member business or 1% approved non-profit partner, keep an eye out for call-in details in your inbox. Also, we’ll be sharing the the full-audio recordings right here, on the 1% for the Planet Blog, during the week following the call. And if you find yourself tirelessly trolling social networks for the latest news like we are, you can find and contribute to live updates of the call on the 1% Twitter page.
About the experts:
Clean Air-Cool Planet is a leading non-profit organization dedicated solely to finding and promoting solutions to global warming. CEO Adam Markham will lead with a brief overview of the organization’s work in practical corporate engagement in climate change solutions. President Rafe Pomerance will follow and answer your questions about the American Clean Energy and Security Act – also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill – and efforts in Washington to help develop new climate policies. Formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment and Development and U.S. representative to Kyoto negotiations, Pomerance is also the founder of National Clean Air Coalition coordinator and Climate Policy Center.
We are more than delighted to share that Clif Bar & Company will be hosting a 1% for the Planet Happy Hour at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City this week. Terry our CEO and Melody our VP will be in house to unveil a teaser of our new film due out this summer, there will be New Belgium Brewing bike bells for the first 50 attendees and co-branded Clif Bar/ 1% pint glasses to go with the free local brew.
Aside from the free beer and member giveaways, know we’ll have a wonderful attendance of true change agents in the Outdoor Retailer space. We encourage you to rally your friends and join our members and friends so we all can meet, network, and learn how you can get involved with the charging momentum of the 1% for the Planet movement! A very Happy Hour indeed . . . . we look forward to seeing you there!
and it’s chock full of goodness. Tunes like ‘Joy Sweet Joy’, ‘Down the Line’, or ‘Too Old to Dream’ will all put you in a very nice place.
While the music’s darn good, it’s more than tunes that connect Huckleberry Tree to 1% for the Planet. In addition to being a friend of ours, and one of the funky freshest humans we know, Garett is a 1% member, committing 1% of the sales of his music to environmental non-profit groups. He’s also the Executive Director of Focus The Nation, a 1% recipient non-profit organization that’s leading the charge for civic engagement around the issues of clean energy and bold and just climate policy.
As if all that weren’t enough, Garett donated a song to our upcoming 1% CD project, one that will help us spread the 1% message far and wide (stay tuned!). AND, he entertained the crowds for us at this past winter’s Outdoor Retailer tradeshow in Salt Lake City. Need another connection? Garett was a founding artist of 1% member Clif Bar’s GreenNotes team, a fantastic crew of musicians committed to greening their touring and educating fans about sustainable lifestyles.
Okay, lovefest over. Don’t check out Huckleberry Tree ‘cause he’s our pal or the things he’s doing for the environmental movement. Check it out ‘cause it’s some truly fine almost-summertime music. It’s been echoing through the 1% office for the last few days and we can’t get enough.
