Featured Change Agent: Chad Pregracke is Cleaning Up America’s Rivers

Each week, EarthFirst.com will be featuring a new ‘Change Agent’ from Changents.com, a social media site that connects people who are doing good in the world with a support system of advocates, donors, publicity generators and fans.

This week we’re putting the spotlight on Chad Pregacke, a change agent who set out to free the rivers he loves so much from the trash that was polluting their shorelines.  Chad, who grew up and spent much time along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, decided at 22 that he wanted to do something about the problem.  So, he started calling around seeking corporate sponsorships, and after many rejections, finally got his first one from Alcoa, Inc.  That helped him get started, and 10 years later, he’s traveling the rivers of America in his barge, cleaning them of trash.

Chad’s organization, Living Lands and Waters, has pulled over 4 million pounds of trash from the nation’s river since he first set out in 1997. LL&W now has 10 employees, a fleet of workboats and barges and many corporate sponsors. They’ve engaged thousands of people in river cleanups all over the U.S., and continue to work toward their mission of river cleanup, riverbottom restoration, educational workshops, Adopt-A-River-Mile and the Million Trees project.

Living Lands and Waters goes one step further in their efforts by giving away a million fruit and nut bearing hardwood trees to help restore watershed ecosystems.  The trees are offered in the hopes that communities will be able to get rid of invasive species and instead provide food and shelter for wildlife, and preserve the riverbottom ecosystems.

Check out this video clip from Big Ideas for a Small Planet, where Chad talks about Living Lands and Waters’ efforts.

Chad and Living Lands and Waters are actively seeking volunteers to help them in their current crusade, which is helping to restore the Midwest areas that were affected by this year’s flood.  See the Chad Pregracke Changents Action Opportunities page for more information.

Living Lands and Waters also hosts community cleanups, educational workshops and tree-plantings throughout the Midwest, and occasionally in other locations.  Join Changents as a backer or contact Living Lands and Waters by emailing madeline@livinglandsandwaters.org for more information.

As a Changents backer, you can offer your assistance in any way you can: as a volunteer right out there on the rivers, sponsors, advocates and publicity generators.  Even if you only have a few minutes of your day to spare, you can help get Living Lands & Waters’ message out so they can continue cleaning up our rivers.

25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#5 - #1)

All this week, EarthFirst.com has counted down the world’s richest green entrepreneurs who have amassed fortunes ranging from the low millions to an incredible $3.4 billion mostly from doing good deeds for the planet.

We’re down to the top 5 – green billionaires who didn’t just start helping the environment after they became billionaires, they made the bulk of their fortunes from helping the environment. These industry giants range between $1.5 billion and $3.4 billion in net worth, and the top three are all from a country that might surprise you: China.

5. Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, Cosan

The world’s first ethanol billionaire, Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello has seen his fortune decrease dramatically over the past year due to the decline of sugar and ethanol prices and rumors of a takeover of his company, Cosan S.A. Of course, $1.5 billion still ain’t bad.

Cosan is one of the world’s largest producers of ethanol, which they brew from sugar cane. Mello has been described as ‘the world’s first biofuel tycoon’. Cosan began way back in 1936, when Mello’s family established a sugarcane mill in Piracicaba, Brazil, outside Sao Paolo.

4. Frank Asbeck, SolarWorld

Frank Asbeck founded SolarWorld, a company that manufactures solar cells and modules which are then installed as solar panels, in 1998. Asbeck has proven to be an innovative leader for this family-owned German company, taking an aggressive entrepreneurial approach that many predict will help the company grow by 25% each year. SolarWorld is at an advantageous position right now, since the manufacture of solar cells will likely be somewhat of a bottleneck in the solar power industry and his company will be able to step in and meet much of that demand.

Asbeck, worth an estimated $1.6 billion, said in a 2007 press release, “Solar energy is on the way to attaining full competitiveness with grid power in the next few years. This means that a major factor for a climate-friendly turning of the tide in the energy sector would be achieved. Yet, in order to actually achieve this ‘grid parity’, the solar industry must continue to invest in the expansion of its capacities and also earn these investments. Because only mass production and efficiency improvements can make prices drop further.”

3. Peng Xiaofeng, LDK Solar

A relative newcomer in the field of solar energy, Peng Xiaofeng’s wealth soared dramatically over a period of only a few years. Just last year, he was worth a whopping $3.85 billion, but his net worth decreased to ‘just’ $2.5 billion in 2008 after allegations by a former employee that his company, LDK Solar, had inflated inventory figures of a key raw material, polysilicon.

Peng’s business began as a safety-product manufacturing plant, until he realized that no Chinese company as of that time was producing solar wafers, a key component of solar panels that make up 25% of their cost. He poured millions of his own fortune and $80 million in venture financing into his new operation, and soon LDK Solar began its rocky journey through the solar industry.

2. Shi Zhengrong, Suntech Power

This China-born Australian citizen is the world’s richest solar tycoon, with about $2.9 billion to his name. Shi Zhengrong runs Suntech Power, which he founded in China in 2001. Suntech makes the photovoltaic cells used in solar panels, and was the first Chinese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Shi, born in poor rural China and given up for adoption by his parents so that he could have a better life, is now one of the richest citizens of both China and Australia.

Suntech Power has a current market value of about $6 billion, and Shi is confident that his company will grow to the size of the world’s largest oil conglomerates as we shift toward renewable sources of energy.

1. Cheung Yan, Nine Dragons Paper

Reported by some sources as the world’s richest self-made woman, Cheung Yan gained her fortune in what many might find a surprising place: recycled paper. Cheung (her name is often spelled Zhang Yin as well) is worth an estimated $3.4 billion based on 2007 revenue figures (2008’s aren’t in yet), and she’s made it over the span of just a few years. Nine Dragons Paper takes post-consumer paper from the U.S. and processes it in China into new paper goods. Cheung held the title of world’s richest woman for nearly two years before being toppled by a young woman who inherited her father’s vast fortune (Yang Huiyan, worth $16.1 billion), but is still richer than both Oprah and J.K. Rowling.

What Was Green at the 2008 Democratic Convention

Yoga, condoms, gay tea parties and a pro-choice bowling night: it sounds like a Bill O’Reilly joke about the Democratic Convention, but all of these things actually happened this year, in and around a political event that was strange and new and yet at the same time… recycled.

While all of the sideshow spectacles like Trojan representatives inviting delegates to see how fast they could put a condom on a banana and the Stonewall Democrats’ tea party for gay delegates were not actual parts of the convention proceedings, they did add to the chaos and confusion that took place in Denver this week.

It may have been hard to see amongst the crazed, hysterical Hillary supporters holding ‘Rise, Hillary, Rise’ posters and protests by a ragtag group of pro-lifers, Libertarians and neo-nazis, but we’ve discerned a basic rundown of what the DNC did to be green this time around.

The Democratic Convention of 2008 set out to be the greenest ever, with organic food, biodegradable cutlery, recycling and compost bins, loaner bicycles and energy star Coke machines.  Convention-goers received lanyards that stated ‘I used to be a soda bottle’.  Convention swag was all recycled, from the fabric tote bags to the key chains and pens.  BPA-free reusable water bottles were offered, with filling stations located all around the convention grounds. Bulk-rate carbon credits were offered to offset the travel emissions of the 6,000+ delegates and alternates.

Official cars ran on flex fuels, and all DNC offices went paperless. Motion-sensors in the offices turned lights off automatically when people leave the room. Food handlers wore biodegradable gloves. Vendors were instructed in waste diversion, and 900 volunteers helped sort the garbage. The stage that speakers addressed the crowd from was made mostly of recycled materials.

The Huffington Post reports that not all of the DNC’s green efforts worked out.  The loaner bike thing sounded like a great plan, but it turns out Denver doesn’t have enough bike racks for the 1,000 bikes – and on top of that, bicycles aren’t allowed near the Pepsi Center or Invesco Field.   Over 70 hotel chains provided special room swipe cards made of ‘sustainably harvested wood’ which reportedly didn’t always work and have locked guests out of their rooms.

There were bound to be pitfalls at such a big event, though it seems ludicrous that someone didn’t think of the bike thing ahead of time.  Considering that they essentially planned a party for 70,000 guests – and not all of them are going to care about recycling and energy efficiency – it seems like they did a great job.  It’s been like one big commercial for sustainability and environmental responsibility, and that’s definitely a good thing.  Let’s see the RNC top that.

Link [The Washington Post] + [The Huffington Post]

Great Green Job of the Week: Environmental Scientist at Green Seal

Green Seal, a non-profit organization dedicated to environmental standard setting, product certification and public education, is seeking an environmental scientist to work at their headquarters in Washington, D.C.  Green Seal works toward sustainability by identifying and promoting environmentally responsible products, purchasing and production.

Title: Environmental Scientist

Position Type: Full Time

Position Overview:

Green Seal is seeking an Environmental Scientist to work on environmental leadership standard setting across a range of products and services.

Responsibilities:

The role will lead and support the development of environmental leadership standards for Green Seal. The main responsibilities of this position will be to evaluate technical research and work with external experts to develop criteria for environmental leadership standards; interact and coordinate with external stakeholders; conduct and support life cycle research; and manage projects.

Qualifications:

It is preferred that the candidate have an MS plus at least 1 year of experience or a PhD in chemistry, biology, environmental science, toxicology, engineering, physics, or related field. Experience with life cycle research and critical analysis of technical research is strongly preferred. Experience with standard development and stakeholder processes is not required, but preferred.

To apply, please email standards@greenseal.com with a cover letter, resume, and three references by September 30th, 2008.

Get more info about Green Seal at GreenSeal.org.

Via [Sustainable Jobs]

Who’s Who in Green: Starre Vartan

It hasn’t been long since the perception held that eco-friendly fashion and beauty were the realm of the hemp-wearing, au naturel granola types. But Starre Vartan, an environmental writer and editor, knew that it was more than that – that it could, in fact, be stylish, glamorous and beautiful, and appeal to all sorts of different women. So, in 2005, she founded Eco-Chick.com with the idea that women who cared about the planet deserved their very own place on the web.

Eco Chick has helped make doing right by the planet fun, sexy and feminine, featuring posts like ‘Eco Lingerie for Every Bella’, ‘Reduce PMS Bloating Naturally with Herbs’, ‘Help Fight Chocolate Extinction’ and ‘The Best Non-Milk Cappuccino Ever!’. Diverse topics from eco-friendly high chairs to the pros and cons of nuclear power are covered, always with Eco Chick’s signature style.

Watch Starre demonstrate some classic Eco Chick go-green tips on Fox News below:

Starre was born in Sydney, Australia and split her time between her home country down under and the hamlet of Garrison, New York, exposing her both to the sand and sea of Australia and the deep forests and mountains of the Northeast. These beautiful natural environments are part of what inspired her to achieve a BS in geology, BA in English and a minor in Biology at Syracuse University. She’s currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at Columbia University.

Starre’s work can currently be found on The Huffington Post, Audubon Magazine (where she writes the Green Guru column) and The Daily Green. She’s the managing editor for Greenopia and the style editor for Plenty Magazine. She has also written for E/The Environmental Magazine, The Fairfield County Weekly, Alternet.org, and Worldchanging New York. Starre was also an associate producer for the Discovery Channel’s miniseries Final Hour.

Starre’s latest venture is her recently released book, ‘The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green’. The book delves into ways young women can live sustainably and still be chic and cool, with sections on fashion and personal care, the home, eco-friendly travel and more. Upbeat and lighthearted, The Eco Chick Guide to Life has hundreds of ideas on how to be ecologically smart, from vintage clothes shopping to biodegradable hair products.

Starre Vartan’s Green Score: 13,907

25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#10 - #6)

All this week, EarthFirst.com will be counting down the world’s richest green entrepreneurs who have amassed fortunes ranging from the low millions to an incredible $3.4 billion mostly from doing good deeds for the planet.

Next up on our countdown of 25 of the richest green businesspeople in the world are a husband and wife team, two eco-friendly cosmetics pioneers and a man who wandered into the lucrative world of wind power by accident.  Today’s list starts at $100 million and ends around $1.4 billion, incredible fortunes made while simultaneously doing good things for the earth.

10. Tom Chappell and 9. Kate Chappell, Tom’s of Maine

Tom and Kate Chappell began making eco-friendly personal care products in the late ‘60s, when they were unable to find any on store shelves.  Taking out a $5,000 loan from a friend, they started Tom’s of Maine with ‘Clearlake’, the country’s first phosphate-free laundry detergent.  In 1975 they introduced the first natural toothpaste, which cemented their future as a leader in the natural personal care industry. Tom and Kate share in the $100 million fortune they made from selling Tom’s of Maine to Colgate in 2006, and remain the CEO and VP of the company, respectively.  Tom’s of Maine pulls in about $45 million in annual sales.

Of the green industry’s future, Tom told SFGate, “The current consciousness for environmental sustainability is different from anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s coming from industry, from companies, for the first time. You’ve had small companies doing a grassroots effort for decades, along with consumers and nonprofit groups, but now you’ve got large companies with senior leadership saying we’ve got to take this seriously. That’s terrific. We know that green solutions are possible. We just need to have green solutions become more available and affordable.”

8. Anita Roddick, The Body Shop

One of the pioneers of the natural beauty industry, Anita Roddick amassed a fortune of $200 million through her cosmetics and toiletries business, The Body Shop, making her one of England’s richest women.  Anita began The Body Shop with the vision that all types of businesses could be run ethically, and that every ingredient has a story.  Anita passed away in 2007, and her husband, Gordon, now manages her fortune.

Of her inspiration to start The Body Shop, Anita said, “My early travels had given me a wealth of experience. I had spent time in farming and fishing communities with pre-industrial peoples, and been exposed to body rituals of women from all over the world. Also the frugality that my mother exercised during the war years made me question retail conventions. Why waste a container when you can refill it? And why buy more of something than you can use? We behaved as she did in the Second World War, we reused everything, we refilled everything and we recycled all we could. The foundation of The Body Shop’s environmental activism was born out of ideas like these.”

7. Roxanne Quimby, Burt’s Bees

When Roxanne Quimby met Burt Shavitz (#23 on our countdown), she was a single mother of twins living in a cabin in the North Woods of Maine. Her husband had just left her and she was desperate for income.  Burt, who had been selling jars of honey out of the back of his pickup truck, had hives labeled ‘Burts Bees’ and pounds and pounds of beeswax, and that spurred an idea: making products like lip balm, shoe polish and beeswax candles.  Over time, her efforts paid off in a big way: Burt’s Bees is now the most successful natural care products company in the world.  The company sold to Clorox in 2007 for $1 billion, and Roxanne made an estimated $300 million from the sale.

Roxanne told Hilary Career, “I think it takes a lot of hard work, persistence, and belief in one’s vision to build a successful company. That sounds sort of trite but one must possess these basic traits to carry on when faced with the daily challenges and sheer exhaustion of running one’s own company. Good luck and good timing also play a role in one’s success. For a product-driven company like Burt’s Bees, I think it’s important to stay ahead of the curve with product innovation and listen closely to what the consumer tells you she wants, and remain faithful to your mission and values.”

6. Tulsi Tanti, Suzlon Energy

Tulsi Tanti, an Indian businessman, didn’t set out to save the environment.  It sort of happened by accident. In 1995, when he owned a fledgling textile company called Suzlon, he received a shocking electric bill that made him wish he could do something about the price of power.  That led him to decide to provide for his own energy needs, buying two wind turbines to power his company – a risky and expensive move, but one that he felt strongly was the right thing to do.  Then, in 2000, Tanti read an article about global warming that predicted that some of his favorite tourism destinations, including the Maldives, would be underwater by the year 2050.  He told TIME Magazine, “I had a very clear vision. If Indians start consuming power like the Americans, the world will run out of resources. Either you stop India from developing, or you find some alternate solution.”

That’s when Tanti decided to sell off his company’s textile manufacturing and enter the field of wind-turbine generators. Suzlon is now the fourth largest wind-turbine maker in the world, with annual profits of about $850 million. Tanti is now worth an estimated $1.4 billion.

Check out the rest of the Rich Ass Greenies: #25-#21, #20-#16, #15-11

EarthFirst.com Welcomes Cartoonist Jerry King to the Team, Let the Snarky Cartoony Madness Begin!

I’m really excited to welcome award winning cartoonist Jerry King on board with EarthFirst.com. Jerry has drawn toons in all sorts of well known mags and has thousands of greeting cards under his belt. He’ll be skewing his focus green for us here at EarthFirst.com and I’ll be bouncing ideas over to him when cartoonish things pop up in the news cycle.

We’ll carry Jerry’s green cartoon once a week in addition to a weekly caption contest.

Here’s EarthFirst.com’s Comix #1. Print this sucker out, it’ll be worth a few million bucks in 50 years (which will be worth about $.22 by then).

Thanks to my pal Yan over at Geeks Are Sexy for passing on Jerry’s contact info.

Breathe In. Breathe out. It’s Almost Friday.

A deep breathe in and then a deep breathe out. Repeat if necessary.

Thanks to Jordan for finding this one.

Green Drinks – Mingle, Network and Connect with Like-Minded People

If you’d like to meet more environmentally conscious people in your area, Green Drinks is a great way to do it. Green Drinks is a monthly informal meeting over drinks, and there are chapters all over the world, including all over the U.S. and Canada, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Japan and much more.  The number of Green Drinks chapters doubled during 2007, from 170 to 304, and has since grown to 350.

Green Drinks is a great opportunity to make new friends and business contacts, get referrals, commiserate on new ideas and get inspired.  Here are a few of the Green Drinks events going on in September in various cities:

London – Tuesday, Sept. 2nd starting at 6:15pm downstairs at The Glasshouse Stores, 55 Brewer St, Soho.  A range of bottled and draught beers, including organic brews, are available as well as a full menu with organic and vegetarian options.

San Francisco – Wednesday, Sept. 3rd 5:30-8pm at Varnish Fine Arts, 77 Natoma St. near 2nd.  For more info or to be added to the email list, contact sfgreendrinks@gmail.com.  Get updates on San Francisco Green Drinks events at the SFGreenDrinks blog.

NYC – Tuesday, Sept. 9th from 6-10pm at Pier 66 – Enjoy organic signature cocktails with complimentary snack foods and sample chocolate bars.  The first 125 people to sign up will receive a free drink ticket. Guest speakers include actor and environmentalist Matthew Modine and geographer and conservationist Robert Rose.  Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door – buy them here.

Vancouver – Wednesday, September 17th 5:45pm at Steamworks Pub, 375 Water St. on the edge of Gastown near Waterfront Station.

Find your local chapter of Green Drinks at GreenDrinks.org.

Smug Levels at a Yearly Low in San Francisco

San Franciscans finally have an answer to a puzzle they’ve been contemplating for over two decades, thanks to amateur smug researcher Ari Schultz’s ingenious investigation. Every year, for exactly one week during the summer, smug levels in San Francisco have plummeted, befuddling scientists who couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for the strange phenomenon.

The city’s infamous levels of smug have been rising since 1969, but for a single week in August each year since 1986 they’ve gotten progressively lower. The smug levels historically return to normal the following week. This year, according to smug monitors, they’ve fallen to record lows.

Schultz, 16, developed a research method involving complex graphs and algorithms that revealed the true cause: Burning Man. During this weeklong event, held in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, a mass exodus of hippies from San Francisco causes smug levels to instantly drop to levels unheard of outside isolated areas of the Midwest and the Deep South.

Burning Man is well known as a hippie magnet of unparalleled proportions, drawing tens of thousands of attendees eager to freely express themselves by dancing with glo-sticks, driving ‘mutant art cars’ and taking in the many radical art installations, like “Heart Jam Hempology”. This year’s Burning Man drew an even bigger crowd than usual, hence the record lows of smug in San Francisco.

The remaining inhabitants of the city are grateful for the reprieve from the constant onslaught of smuggy air.

“It’s a huge relief – you can actually breathe,” says Martha DeWalt, a San Francisco resident who’s enjoying the low smug levels while they last. “Body odor and patchouli are so hard on the lungs. Usually, the smug’s so thick in this city you constantly feel like you’re choking. My kids can actually go out and play in the fresh air. It’s exhilarating.”

While the city’s smug hippies whoop it up in the desert, parading their nude hairy bodies around with papier-mâché tribal masks covering their faces, San Francisco’s non-hippie residents are demanding that the city find a way to make the changes permanent.

“It’s time for the government to step up and do something about the dangerous levels of smug in San Francisco,” fumed Bob Jessup, gesturing toward the full lot of parked, dusty hybrid vehicles outside the Arterra green apartment complex on Berry Street. “Sure, the smug levels are down this week, but why should we put up with them the rest of the year? I want to see city officials start some kind of project to keep the hippies at Burning Man year-round.”

As for Ari Schultz, he’s been offered a scholarship to study climate science at San Francisco State University, and plans to focus on the city’s smug levels. “I’m just glad I was able to help. Battling smug is just one small step toward improving the environment here in San Francisco, and by extension, making the world a better place for all of us.”

Photo credit: Flickr user Ruthless Logic

25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#15 - #11)

All this week, EarthFirst.com will be counting down the world’s richest green entrepreneurs who have amassed fortunes ranging from the low millions to an incredible $3.4 billion mostly from doing good deeds for the planet.

Today’s 5 rich ass greenies include three organic foods moguls, a wind company executive and a hero that has helped spread the message of environmental responsibility more than anyone, perhaps aside from Al Gore.  Though we don’t know the exact net worth of all of these businessmen, we do know that it’s in the double-digit millions or higher and that they’re now enjoying the high life after dedicating their careers to helping the planet.

15. Chuck Marcy, Horizon Organics

Charles ‘Chuck’ Marcy is the former president and CEO of Horizon Organic, one of America’s largest organic milk producers. The company had been around since 1992, but didn’t start major marketing efforts until 2004 when acquired by Dean Foods for $246 million.  Marcy also owns Healthy Food Holdings, a private-equity backed company that buys organic and healthy food brands including Van’s International Foods and Breyers.

14. Mike Gilliland, Wild Oats Market

Mike Gilliland helped kick off the natural foods industry when he founded Wild Oats Markets with then-wife Libby Cook in 1987.  The Boulder, Colorado-based company quickly became the second largest natural foods chain in America.  Gilliland left Wild Oats in 2001 when the company’s sales suffered after an acquisition spree.  Wild Oats was purchased by rival Whole Foods in 2007 for an estimated $565 million.  Gilliland then went on to found Sunflower Farmers Market, a chain of natural foods outlets in the Southwest.  His fortune hasn’t been disclosed.

13. Michael Skelly, Horizon Wind

Michael Skelly is the former CEO of Horizon Wind Energy, a renewable energy company located in Houston, Texas.  Horizon is a wind energy developer and independent power producer which as developed wind farms all over the country, and is the third largest wind company in the United States.  The company was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2005 for an undisclosed amount and then sold to Energias de Portugal for $2.15 billion.

Skelly, a Democrat, is now running for Congress in Texas’ 7th congressional district against three-term incumbent John Culberson.

12. Steve Demos, White Wave

Steve Demos has had an interesting life, to say the least.  He’s a Buddhist, and once lived in a cave in India. He spent a lot of time traveling, and that’s when he had a revelation: that he wanted to construct a “right livelihood”, making money and doing good for society at the same time.  He set out to make healthy vegetarian foods, with a particular focus on soy.  It was quite a battle, though: for 20 years he struggled to get soy products accepted into mainstream society through his company, White Wave.  It wasn’t until 1996 that he realized that tempeh and tofu weren’t likely to end up on most Americans’ plates, but soymilk was a product that could be accepted more easily.  After that, sales rose dramatically and Demos spent the next 8 years helping the company grow. In 2005, Demos was unexpectedly ejected from the company he founded by the board.

We don’t know exactly how much Demos is worth, but consider this. When White Wave sold to Dean Foods in 2002 for $295 million, Demos ensured that the company’s 100 employees who had worked there for at least 2 years each got a share of $15 million of the profits.  So, we’re sure he made out pretty well – in the double-digit, if not triple-digit millions, most likely.  At the time of his ousting, White Wave was worth $1.2 billion.

11. Captain Planet

For years, Captain Planet educated the world about environmental issues, showing off his incredible skills as he flew, blew hurricane force winds, shapeshifted, moved objects with his mind and performed amazing feats of matter transmutation.  As we all know, the smog, radiation and toxic waste that continue to pollute the environment at alarming levels harmed Captain Planet’s health, so it’s only natural that after his show was canceled he retired to the island of Taos to build his strength back up.  Captain Planet invested his money wisely and now lives in an off-grid home on the island, relaxing and taking in the fresh air and clean water.

Check out the previous installments:

25 Rich Ass Greenies (#25-#21), (#20-#16)

We’re No Longer Asking. Give Us 100% Clean Energy in 10 Years.

We’re no longer asking. Give us 100% Clean Energy in 10 years.

Link [We Can Solve It.]

Fans’ Green Poster Contest Entries Thrown in the Trash at Jonas Brothers Show

Scores of hysterical young fans of Disney band the Jonas Brothers were sorely disappointed Sunday night after their entries in a band-sponsored green poster contest ended up in the trash. The kids and their parents stood in line for hours with posters that they had labored over for who knows how long, only to throw them in the garbage when organizers decided there were too many posters to judge.

From The Chicago Tribune:

The Jonases have teamed up with Chevy for a Green Team Jonas promotion with a lucrative prize: meeting Disney heartthrobs Nick, Joe and Kevin. The theme of the poster contest was about having fun and thinking green. So-called “Chevy Spotters” were to be in the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre parking lots looking for possible winners.

But many of the posters covered with glitter glue and puffy paint were thrown in the trash, likely destined to end up in landfills, because there were too many to be judged outside

and the posters weren’t allowed in the venue. Ticket takers said the posters were banned because they could obstruct fans’ views.

One worker said the posters would be given to the Jonases later. But that did little to ease the disappointment of young fans seen dejectedly throwing their posters into huge garbage bins before the show.

Way to fail that green contest – sheesh. I think these kids – and the organizers of the contest – failed to grasp what ‘green’ means, namely that throwing all of that stuff in the trash is far from eco-friendly. Obviously these girls just wanted to meet the Jonas Brothers, and nary a thought was given to the idea that trashing the posters went against the whole point.

The worker who offered the platitude that the posters would be given to the guys later clearly panicked at the idea of an angry mob of boy-crazy teens and made up a total lie – can you imagine the Jonases walking into a room stuffed to the ceiling with posters covered in glitter and puff paint? For those who don’t have young daughters or sisters, Jonas Brothers mania is said to rival that of Beatles fans in the ‘60s, though I think they come off more as an American version of Menudo.

Sounds like the whole thing was a bad idea. Nice try, people, but – ECO FAIL!

Link [The Chicago Tribune]
Photo credit: E! Online

Who’s Who in Green: Preston Koerner

Where do the savvy go when looking for the latest news about green architecture? Jetson Green, naturally, where you can find everything from the latest eco-friendly condo project in Chicago to inspirational green home remodels. Jetson Green is a veritable treasure trove of green architecture eye candy, featuring drool-worthy photos of sustainable homes, green roofs, solar powered communities, modern earth-friendly home furnishings and much more.

Meet Preston Koerner, the man behind Jetson Green (and one of our Hot Guys in Green). He first became enamored with green building when living in Japan in the ‘90s, where the culture was really focused on environmentalism. Years later, Preston was still inspired by their conservationist attitude. In 2005, he was seeking an MBA and wrote a plan for a mid-scale, modern, trendy, green hotel for young professionals as part of a business plan class. To him, the green elements infused within the design and plans were what really made it a winning plan – and it spurred his continuing fascination with the cross-section of sustainability and real estate.

Preston has since earned a B.A. in history with a minor in Japanese, as well as JD and MBA degrees. He founded Jetson Green in 2006 and is still the sole owner and chief editor, with a staff of three contributors. Preston lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and is currently a transactional attorney at Corbridge Baird & Christensen. He’s preparing for the LEED AP exam, and hopes to find the time soon to write a book.

Two of the energy-efficient homes recently featured on Jetson Green, from left: The Alley House in Madison Valley, Washington + the Green on 19 condos in Santa Monica, California.

One of the things that make Jetson Green so beloved by the online green community is the fact that the site focuses so much on realistic, affordable options for everyday people. Preston’s writing is infused with excitement about topics like flat-pack prefab energy-efficient homes, and nothing makes a blog more interesting to read than real enthusiasm.

Of his biggest green inspiration, Preston told Re-Nest,

My biggest green inspiration is probably not any one product or company in particular, it’s the momentum for good green products in general. Whether CFLs and LEDs, recycled content countertops and furniture, or Energy Star and WaterSense appliances and fixtures, all sorts of green products are widely available and they look good, too. Due to the increasing popularity of green certification systems, the need to put less garbage in land fills, and the favorable political and social climate for environmentalism, green materials have come out as big winners in design and construction. And this is good for everyone because good green materials won’t just be available to the rich or elite, they’ll be available to all of us. I like that and continue to monitor the future of materials going forward.

Preston, who is often asked to contribute comments on green building-related news stories and other blogs, is confident that the future of eco-friendly architecture is incredibly bright, writing on Jetson Green, “…the topic of green building has entered mainstream discourse as a major component of environmentalism — and it’s going to continue to dominate the discussion going forward.” We’re sure that Preston’s future is equally as promising.

Preston Koerner’s Green Score: 8,876

25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#20 - #16)

All this week, EarthFirst.com will be counting down the world’s richest green entrepreneurs who have amassed fortunes ranging from the low millions to an incredible $3.4 billion mostly from doing good deeds for the planet.

Today’s 5 green businessmen are a diverse bunch: two energy moguls, the founder of a carbon mitigation firm, a tea titan and the man who changed the face of natural food stores. Each of these men has made $7 million or more off of their eco-friendly ventures, and they’re all likely to keep on hauling in cash by the truckload for the foreseeable future.  These 5 rich ass greenies help prove that environmental responsibility and reaching millionaire status aren’t mutually exclusive.

20. David Scaysbrook, Novera Energy

When David Scaysbrook founded Australian firm Novera Energy in 1998, he was convinced that unlike other forms of renewable energy that were available at the time, wind power had real potential.  He became a millionaire when cashing in $7 million worth of shares in the company, and is still a non-executive director on the board. He’s also a founding shareholder of Viridis Energy Capital, a specialist green energy fund with a global focus and a portfolio of investments in landfill gas, biomass and hydro power.

David is confident that we haven’t seen anything yet when it comes to the success of the wind power industry, telling Reuters that he believes fears about energy security, the rising price of oil and growing concerns about the environment will push the scale of investment in wind to far greater proportions, which will undoubtedly continue adding millions to his bank account.

19. Pedro Moura Costa, EcoSecurities

EcoSecurities is an Irish carbon mitigation firm that has developed more projects than any other similar business, and co-founder Pedro Moura Costa got $10 million richer last year when he sold some of his shares in the firm.  Moura Costa knew that the carbon market could be big business, especially once the Kyoto Protocol was established.  It may have taken longer than he expected for the market to become very profitable, but he’s done well and will continue to make even more: his remaining shares are worth an estimated $83 million.

When asked by Reuters whether the thought green business was a bubble, Moura Costa said, “It’s become quite obvious we do something now or it will be an irreversible trend with catastrophic consequences.  The only chance of it being a bubble is if we lack the political commitment to drive emission reductions worldwide — and if we do that we might as well forget about any environmental effort whatsoever because climate change is hitting us hard and the trend is likely to accelerate. I think it’s very unlikely political support will go away.”

18. Steve Hughes, Celestial Seasonings

Often referred to as an ‘organic mogul’, Steve Hughes is a veteran of the natural foods industry and had already held several high-profile positions before becoming CEO of tea company Celestial Seasonings in 1997.  Serving for just 3 years before Celestial Seasonings was sold to natural foods giant Hain in 2000, Hughes made a whopping $20 million from the merger. He’s credited for reinventing the brand after four years of stagnant sales, resulting in the interest from Hain.

Hughes is now CEO of natural margarine producer Smart Balance, which analysts predict could become a billion-dollar company over the next decade, especially as more people turn to products that don’t contain trans fats.

17. Ryan Turner, Pacific Ethanol

Ryan Turner co-founded Fresno, California-based energy company Pacific Ethanol in 2002, and after just four years, became a multimillionaire. After the company went public, its stock price quadrupled and Tuner, who had been acting as the company’s chief operating officer, cashed in $29.5 million worth of stock.  At just 31, he resigned and set out to enjoy his new fortune. Pacific Ethanol may or may not continue to see the same success and support as it has over recent years, depending on what the future of this biofuel holds. But, either way, Turner’s got it made – if he resists the temptation to spend it like Hammer, he’s set for life.

16. John Mackey, Whole Foods

Way back in 1978, John Mackey dropped out of college and borrowed $45,000 from family friends to open Safer Way Natural Foods, a small vegetarian health food store in Austin, Texas.  After experiencing some difficulty in his first few years in business, Mackey approached the owners of another Austin health food store about a merger, and together they became Whole Foods, which later became the most successful natural foods chain in the world.

Mackey has declined to disclose his personal net worth, but we know that prior to 2006, when he announced that he was no longer in the business to make money and would henceforth only make $1 per year, he was netting $400,000 annually.  He reportedly has enough money now to give at least $1 million away to charity every year, and as CEO of such a huge company, we’re sure he’s pretty damn comfortable.

Check out last week’s installment of ‘25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#25 - #21)‘.

New Jersey Assemblyman Fighting State’s Global Warming Response Act

Michael Doherty is convinced that global warming is a sham, and the Assemblyman in the good old Garden State is trying to get New Jersey’s landmark Global Warming Response Act repealed. Doherty claims that various new ‘scientific’ reports questioning the concept of global warming back up his stance.

From PolitickerNJ.com:

“There are many credible members of the scientific community who have questioned the theory of global warming, and now we have some scientists actually suggesting the earth’s temperatures may be entering a period of dramatic cooling,” said Doherty, R-Warren and Hunterdon. “With this growing level of scientific uncertainty, it makes no sense to enact a new set of economically damaging regulations prompted by the global warming hysteria of recent years.”

The Global Warming Response Act was signed last year by Corzine, which requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The law required the state Department of Environmental Protection to release a report detailing how the state would meet the goals, with recommendations now expected to be issued this fall.

It’s not known whether Doherty’s misconceptions about global warming are caused by a defective gene, or the fact that he lives in New Jersey. Seriously though, New Jersey environmentalists should get together and show this guy the state bird. You know, the one on the third finger of their hands. Because, anyone with at least half of a functioning brain knows that there’s no credible bloc of scientists who dispute global warming.

Link [PolitickerNJ.com]
Photo credit: Flickr user kcjc009

25 Rich Ass Greenies Who Made Their Fortune Saving the Environment (#25 - #21)

All this week, EarthFirst.com will be counting down the world’s richest green entrepreneurs who have amassed fortunes ranging from the low millions to an incredible $3.4 billion mostly from doing good deeds for the planet.

We’re starting off the list with a few entrepreneurs for whom no actual numbers are available in terms of personal fortune, but who undoubtedly have very well padded bank accounts. These five guys are rich and getting richer, and their companies are worth staggering quantities of cash. They’re making the big bucks off their eco-friendly ventures, and we hope they’ll inspire all of you wannabe entrepreneurs out there to get out and do something for the environment – and make a truckload of money, too.

25. Neil Eckert, Climate Exchange

Neil Eckert is the CEO of Climate Exchange PLC, a leading provider of exchange-based carbon-emissions trading products. Climate Exchange PLC owns both the European Climate Exchange and the Chicago Climate Exchange. Climate Exchange provides emissions reduction credits in Europe under the mandatory European Emissions Trading Scheme. Neil’s personal net worth hasn’t been disclosed, but it’s thought to be in the millions.

24. Ray Anderson, Interface Inc.

Ray Anderson has been called ‘the greenest chief executive in America’. Founder and CEO of Interface Inc., a carpet tile company, Anderson wasn’t always interested in environmental issues, but in the summer of 1994 he was asked to give a speech to Interface employees about the company’s approach to the environment. He told The New York Times, “I was running a company that was plundering the earth. I thought, ‘Damn, some day people like me will be put in jail! It was a spear in the chest.’”

After that, Anderson set out to make Interface a sustainable operation, an effort that has saved the company more than $336 million since 1995. Today, the company makes more than $1.1 billion in annual sales, and Anderson has undoubtedly taken home a hefty portion of that.

23. Burt Shavitz, Burt’s Bees

Burt Shavitz could have been a hell of a lot richer than he is. Roxanne Quimby, co-founder of popular natural care products company Burt’s Bees, bought out the iconic beekeeper way back in the late ‘90s before Burt’s Bees hit it big for a low six-figure sum. Today, she enjoys a fortune of more than $300 million, while Burt’s got about $4 million to his name. He doesn’t seem to mind too much, though – the 72-year-old lives in the same rustic turkey coop he was shacking up in when he met Roxanne back in 1984, when he was selling honey out the back of his pickup truck.

Burt’s Bees was purchased by Clorox in November 2007 for nearly $1 billion.

22. Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farms

Gary Hirshberg is chairman, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farms, an organic yogurt producer. Hirshberg has been interested in sustainability since he was a teenager, and studied ecology in college. He started Stonyfield Farms as an organic dairy farming school with partner Samuel Kaymen in 1983, and today the company pulls in more than $300 million in annual sales. Hirshberg is also author of the book ‘Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World’.

Hirshberg wrote in Newsweek, “At Stonyfield, we have factored the planet into all our decisions. We are a 100 percent organic manufacturer, which means we avoid the production and use of many tons of toxic chemicals. We were America’s first manufacturer to offset 100 percent of our carbon-dioxide emissions from our manufacturing facility. We’ve mapped our climate footprint (by figuring out just how much greenhouse gas we emit), installed the largest solar photovoltaic array in New Hampshire and converted our yogurt waste into bio-gas, avoiding the generation of truckloads of sludge.

These kinds of green improvements have not only reduced our company footprint on the planet, but have saved our company so many millions of dollars that I’ve come to think of them as the “First National Bank of Conservation.”

21. Bruce Khouri, Solar Integrated Technologies

Bruce Khouri, age 49, co-founded Solar Integrated Technologies in 2001 and made a personal fortune of $5 million by cashing in shares in the company. Khouri saw a market for solar panels long before most other entrepreneurs saw it as a viable revenue source, in the 1990s. He realized the value of sun-baked rooftop real estate, and says that 50 years from now, he expects that every sunny rooftop will be covered in solar panels.

Of his path to fortune, Khouri told Reuters, “It hasn’t been easy but we transformed an old-world roofing material into a renewable energy technology. It’s a miracle Solar Integrated is still here but a pioneer charging across the prairie is bound to get hit by a few arrows.”

Eco Tips Illustrated Part II: Green Up Your Life in Five Easy Steps

Sometimes, it’s hard to figure out what to do in various situations in order to be ‘green’. With the help of these simple illustrations, you can learn to live a greener life and avoid the mistakes and pitfalls that can happen to the uneducated. This random selection of 5 green illustrated tips will show you how to properly interpret ‘go green’ advice. Check out Part I as well, which features such tips as ‘Get Smart with Gasoline’ and ‘Don’t Eat Animals’.

Illustrations by Stephanie Rogers

College Spotlight: Green Mountain College’s Sustainable Orientation

One Vermont college is going far above and beyond in their efforts to green up their campus, and it shows in their ‘sustainable orientation’, a weekend for new students to get educated on carbon emissions and other aspects of sustainability. Green Mountain College’s sustainable orientation will take place between August 28th and September 1st. Initiated by the office of student life and sustainability coordinator Jesse Pyles, the college’s orientation weekend will include all of the following:

• Fewer mailings. Offices have reduced the amount of paper by sending bulk mailings and directing students to the website for information.
• Local programming. “In the past we had outside consultants develop programs on drug and alcohol use and safety,” says Ouimette. “To decrease the amount of travel created by orientation, we’re now doing these workshops in-house by orientation leaders.”
• Reused utensils. “Students are encouraged to bring their own utensils and travel mug to use during orientation,” she says. There will be stations set up for students to wash their silverware with environmentally friendly dish soap. Biodegradable utensils will be available for family and friends visiting during orientation.
• Green decorations. Instead of balloons-which are not biodegradable-the campus decorates with flowers grown on the college farm. Other decorations and necessary signage will be done on reusable sandwich board.
• Local dinners. On “Sustainable Sunday,” students will dine on breakfast provided by the college farm and local providers. “Logistically, it’s near impossible to have four days of local meals,” explains Ouimette, “but we want to show students about the improvements we’ve made in greening our food service.”
• Camp-Out Night. Students will assess the energy saved in one night of camping on campus. GreenMAP, the College’s outdoor adventure program, will also educate new students about nationally developed “leave no trace” principles, especially with regard to setting up tents and using the nearby Poultney River.
• Green Student Orientation Leaders (student orientation leaders specifically assigned to sustainability efforts and education) will lead several colorful “Ecostunts”-activities and demonstrations designed to illustrate sustainability themes.

“It’s important for the College to introduce incoming students to what it’s like to be sustainable as soon as they first set foot on campus,” says Christina Ouimette, a senior at GMC and student coordinator for orientation. “It’s a huge part of our community, our mission, and how we learn here.”

Green Mountain College is Vermont’s environmental liberal arts college, tucked away in the countryside in the Valley of Vermont. The core of Green Mountain College is its environmental liberal arts (ELA) curriculum, which all Green Mountain students complete. It combines the skills and content of a liberal arts course with a focus on the environment.

Green Mountain College was the first college in the United States to be named EPA Energy Star Showcase Campus after their campus-wide effort to retrofit light fixtures. They’ve also been awarded with the Campus Sustainability Leadership Award by the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for their ‘outstanding commitment to environmental sustainability in their governance and administration, curriculum and research, operations, campus culture and community outreach. Green Mountain College was also included on Grist.org’s Top 15 Green Colleges and Universities.

Some of the green initiatives that have been put in place on the Green Mountain College campus include a commitment to carbon neutrality, 50% of its electricity from local dairy farms through the Cow Power Program, participation in the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System) program, a plug-in hybrid study, a sustainable agriculture project, a robust recycling program and much more.

Learn more at the Green Mountain College website.

Next Page »