Who’s Who in Green: Sir David Attenborough

For decades, Sir David Attenborough has been the voice of nature programs on the BBC, lending his narrative skills to such documentaries as Planet Earth. His thoughtful, understated yet emotional narration set the tone for hundreds of nature-themed television specials.  The famed naturalist may have stopped traveling the globe, but at 82 years old, he’s far from retired, still working on documentaries related to the natural world.

Attenborough, the younger brother of actor Richard Attenborough, first began his career in broadcasting in 1952 when he joined BBC Television.  In 1954, he began one of the most successful and adventurous series of his career, Zoo Quest, which took him to some of the wildest parts of the world for 10 years.  Attenborough – who, as Controller of BBC2, was responsible for the introduction of color television in Britain – took on increasing responsibilities at the network, becoming Director of Programs in 1969.

Editorial responsibilities didn’t fulfill his desire to travel and learn, however, so it wasn’t long before he was back on the road, hosting series like Eastwards with Attenborough and The Tribal Eye. In the late 1970s, Sir David Attenborough helped bring a passion for the environment to millions of viewers with the 13-part series Life on Earth, which was seen by 500 million viewers worldwide. Throughout the 1980s, Attenborough worked on such programs as The Living Planet, Trials of Life, The First Eden and Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives.

Since then, Attenborough has worked on such award-winning programs as The Private Life of Plants, Wildlife Specials and The Blue Planet. In recognition of his contributions to educational television programming, Sir Attenborough has been knighted, awarded with honorary degrees, and given prestigious awards including Fellowship of the Royal Society.  He is a trustee of the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens and is also President of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation.

In 2006, viewers rated their favorite David Attenborough television moments in honor of the naturalist’s 80th birthday.  At number one came a sequence with the Lyre bird, which can imitate the sounds of cameras and chainsaws with astounding accuracy:

So famous is Attenborough’s signature delivery and pronunciation that he’s been spoofed time and time again on programs like South Park and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.  The stark contrast between Attenborough’s soothing, observational narration and that of American nature program narrators with their loud, exclamation-point-laden, anthropomorphic style is also frequently noted.

That’s what makes Attenborough’s contributions to educational programs about the natural world so special.  He has provided a hushed, respectful excitement that brims with contagious wonder to nature programs that have shaped a love of the natural world for millions of people across the globe. Sir David Attenborough has left an indelible mark on nature-themed television programming, giving the new generation of narrators an awful lot to live up to.

Sir David Attenborough’s Green Score: 85,003

MTV Trashes Island for Real World/Road Rules Challenge Episode

Looks like MTV didn’t learn anything from their attempt to green up their reality show, The Real World.  Earlier this year, the Real World cast enjoyed living in a green house, complete with sustainable furniture, solar panels, dual-flush toilets and a tour by Summer Rayne Oakes.  But when the network traveled to Boca del Drago, Republic of Panama to shoot a Real World/Road Rules challenge this summer, they certainly weren’t keeping the environment in mind.

The Tree Climber Coalition documented the destruction left behind on the island after the MTV crew was done with it (and have accounts of finding scripts for the so-called reality show, among other things).

Finally, toward the end of July, we were told that the “show” was over and that the crew and the participants were gone. One of our students and I took a walk out toward the area to see what was to be seen. The security was gone, the gate on the road was closed, and life seemed back to normal. We found the “new” driveway that had been made to access the site and we took a cautious walk down toward the beach. All was quiet; nobody stopped us. Down the hill we went toward the beach and began to see just what a crew of TV people could do when they decided to make a production. The place looked like a trash dump and there was an area of devastation inconsistent with the surrounding forest. MTV had packed up and gone and there was nothing left behind that could be compared with what had been there before. Refer to the photos at the start of this article in order to get a visual idea of what I am talking about here. I have seen the aftermath of a tornado and this was almost as bad. The area had been deserted with little attempt at any sort of cleanup of the mess.

As Jmaher and Michael Drake of the Tree Climber Coalition point out, the show is supposedly set in a remote island location, but there are houses within yards of the set.  MTV cut down a large area of rainforest to create the set, and left large amounts of trash behind.  They also conducted activities on a protected island that has been declared off-limits to human visitation, and flew a helicopter very low over the forest, disturbing the formerly tranquil setting which is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

It’s definitely at odds with the so-called ‘MTV Green Crusade’.  Real green, guys.

Link [Tree Climber Coalition]
Photo credit: Michael Drake

The Secrets of Trash on Nuclear Aircraft Carriers

What’s life like on a nuclear aircraft carrier?  That’s what 10-part PBS series ‘Carrier’ aims to find out.  Filmed aboard the USS Nimitz, Carrier follows a core group of personnel living and working on the carrier.  The average age of the crewmen is 19, and many of the jobs are far from glamorous.  One segment that caught our eye focused on the trash processing department.  For anyone not already familiar with the practice of dumping at sea, it’s shocking.  Check it out starting at 10:40 below.

In the clip, Captain Ted Branch says, “The Navy has always been a very good steward of our environment. You’ll find that when compared to the civilian cruise liner industry, we are far more environmentally friendly than those types of ships.”  Another unidentified sailor says, “We don’t dump anything that, like, could contaminate the water or anything, everything we dump is like regular cans or food that we don’t eat.”

That doesn’t make it any easier to watch as the bags of trash slide down the chute and out into the open water, adding to the already serious problem of pollution in our oceans.  Everything but plastic gets thrown over the side of the ship.

Even better, another sailor talks about seeing protesters from Greenpeace and how absurd he thinks it is.  “There’s absolutely no merit to what they have to say.  To me, it’s almost like the KKK – they’re real fired up about something that makes no damn sense at all.”  Amazing.

Continue watching for some interesting tidbits abut the nuclear reactor and the people who work in it, who are described by one woman as “the trenchcoat people, the weird ones.”

Link [Hulu]

Bill Nye Coming Back to TV on ‘Stuff Happens’

Science nerds rejoice! Bill Nye the Science Guy is coming back to TV starting September 2nd. The new Planet Green series ‘Stuff Happens’ explains to viewers “what happens when we use stuff, where it goes when we’re through with it, and what impact it has on the environment and the entire planet”. Episode one, called ‘The Bathroom’, sounds pretty interesting.

From Treehugger:

In the premiere episode, Nye explores the private porcelain palace called the bathroom. Some of the stuff that happens there may be unmentionable, but it all has an environmental impact—an impact we can reduce in painless ways that could make a big difference.

Nye tackles everything from toothpaste (does it endanger orangutans in Borneo?), to cosmetics (how many pounds of chemicals does your skin absorb over a lifetime of using cosmetics?), to toilets (what kinds of “super bugs” are growing in our municipal water systems due to flushing old prescription drugs down the toilet?)

Pure awesome. This series is going to be packed with tons of fascinating information. Check out the premiere Tuesday, September 2nd at 9PM ET.

Link [Planet Green] + [Treehugger]

Electronics Industry Greening up as a Whole, Offering Recycling Programs

There’s a big difference between merely greening up your company and greening up your entire industry, and a great example is what’s happening right now with televisions and other electronics. Companies like LG, Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba have begun major recycling programs that are free and easy for consumers. These programs embrace the idea of producer responsibility, which is the notion that whoever makes the product should be ultimately responsible for its recycling or safe disposal once its usefulness is complete.

That doesn’t mean that all of these companies willingly stepped up to the plate, of course – it’s the result of a lot of hard work by organizations to have regulations passed in 15 states (so far). The Electronics TakeBack Coalition has put the pressure on states, and a coalition of nonprofits has been pushing individual companies to offer free recycling.

From Green Biz:

The coalition’s next target is Samsung, another Korean firm which is running an Olympic-themed online scavenger hunt called “hunt for the gold.” The coalition respons thatolder TVs include toxic chemicals lead, mercury and cadmium as well as gold, and that many are collected for recycling and then “sent to developing countries like China by unscrupulous recyclers, where they are literally bashed open and melted down with few if any safeguards against toxic releases.”

You can be fairly confident that once industry leaders like Sony and LG offer free recycling, their competitors will have to go along. It’s probably not much of a burden to their business, either–rising commodity prices mean that the value of old electronics, formerly known as garbage, is also increasing.

Imagine what would happen if more industries began running on the ‘producer responsibility’ concept. There’d be virtually no waste. That’s the direction we need to go in – and this is a hopeful sign that through pressure from organizations and consumers, we can get entire industries to green up and stop trashing the planet.

Link [GreenBiz.com]
Photo credit: Flickr user saidunsaid

Incredible Satellite Images of Britain’s Traffic, Taxis, Internet and Phone Activity

Extraordinary satellite images reveal a different view of Britain – that of the connections between its citizens through vehicle traffic, internet activity and telephone activity. The latest technology was used to monitor Britain from the sky for a new BBC series, ‘Britain from Above’, which aired for the first time Sunday night.

From Mail Online:

Presenter Andrew Marr takes to the skies by plane, helicopter, microlight and even parachute to give viewers a bird’s eye view of landmarks across the UK.

The programme uses satellite data and the latest computer generated imagery to demonstrate how Britain keeps moving - tracking the planes that enter our airspace, the ships that cross the English Channel and the cars that travel our streets, all in the space of a single day.

Series director Cassian Harrison, said: ‘It has been amazing to work with cameras mounted on so many helicopters and planes.

‘The one disadvantage is that when we film we’re contending so much with the weather.

‘It has been a battle with the elements, but a brilliant one, working out how many different ways it is possible to get up in the sky and look down at the nation.’

Harrison went on to call it ‘Google Earth for real’. It really makes you think about much activity really goes on in the span of a single day, and how much more connected we are today than our grandparents were a half-century ago.

Link [Mail Online]

Sundance Channel Greenlights David de Rothschild Eco Series

You’ll soon be able to watch EarthFirst.com’s #1 Hottest Guy in Green, David de Rothschild, on the Sundance Channel! The network has greenlighted de Rothschild’s series, “Eco-Trip: The Real Cost of Living”.  The 8-part series will premiere in 2009, and will trace the origins and environmental impact of common everyday objects such as a cotton t-shirt or a gold ring.

Each 30-minute episode will trace the ‘eco-life’ of objects from cell phones to bottles of water from production to disposal, revealing the environmental, social and health effects along the way.  The series aims to educate viewers on the decisions they can make to live a greener lifestyle.  It reflects the Sundance Channel’s growing dedication to creating entertaining and enlightening eco-programming.  (You should be watching out, also, for Josh Dorfman’s television debut of The Lazy Environmentalist!)

As soon as we get the exact debut date for Eco-Trip: The Real Cost of Living, we’ll let you know so you can check it out!

Link [The Sundance Channel]

Programs Geared Toward the U.S. Market Dumbed Down, Sexed Up

The Ranger, the host and mascot of Naturenet, the UK’s most popular independent website, noticed a peculiar difference in the way nature programs are narrated for British audiences versus American audiences. Basically, nature programs aren’t interesting to the American market unless they’ve been dumbed down, with inane narration that makes it sound more like America’s Funniest Videos than a documentary about, say, bees pollinating flowers.

The Ranger describes the ‘chuckling, anthropomorphic’ commentary on a National Geographic clip that’s complete with dramatic music and sound effects as compared to the ‘quiet, almost abstract delivery’ of Sir Richard Attenborough on a similar BBC clip. Here are samples, from The Ranger, starting with the National Geographic narration:

“The jumping spider packs a ton of skulking pouncing killing fire-power in its tiny body.”
“If this were a slasher film, the audience would be screaming, ‘Look out behind you!’”
“How’d you like to stare into these eyes, with your life on the line? Ha! Yikes!”

Sir Attenborough’s narration:

“A white crab spider sits, almost invisible, on a white flower, waiting in ambush. And it catches a bee.”
“…ultra-violet markings on some flowers serve to guide insects to nectar.”
“Honey-bees seem more likely to visit flowers with crab spiders on them than those without.”

This is sort of embarrassing, isn’t it? Not to say that all American programs are dumbed down to this extent, or that all British programs are really smart, but The Ranger does have a point. Americans seem to need everything ultra-dramatic and either humorous or full of action in order to remain attentive. Our television shows seem to get more sensationalist and trashy as each week passes… because that’s what sells. It’s sad, but true. It makes satire like Idiocracy seem all the more possible in the future.

Link [The Ranger]
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

’30 Days’ Sends a Hunter to Live with Animal Rights Activists

At first glance, one might equate the FX show ’30 Days’ with similar set-ups on reality television like ‘Wife Swap’. The purpose is clear from the get-go: to help people with radically different ideologies come to an understanding about each other, and even if they don’t ultimately agree, they’re expected to gain some sense of a middle ground. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. What sets this show apart is that it deals with real issues, and keeps the made-for-TV manufactured drama to a minimum.

This episode, entitled ‘Animal Rights’, puts hunter George Snedeker into the home of Melissa Karpel, an events coordinator for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

“A deer, cow, a chicken… their sole purpose is to feed us,” George says before leaving his North Carolina home for Los Angeles. George’s intention going into this wasn’t to gain some cloud-piercing revelation that would change his life, or even to convince the animal rights activists to agree with his views. All he wanted, he said, was to understand why these people can be ‘so extreme’.

Melissa certainly holds views about animals that are opposite those of George. She firmly believes that animals do not belong to humans for food, clothing, experiments or entertainment. Melissa stated early on that all she wanted was to show George what it’s like to live with a family who happen to be vegans and animal rights activists, but it became clear that she was truly hoping to help George see the light.

Forcing George to dress up in a chicken costume as part of a KFC protest probably wasn’t the best way to get started, and indeed, it set the mood for the week that followed, which was full of angry, emotional arguments between George and Melissa.

Once George started working at an animal sanctuary, he also clashed with director Lorri Bauston, but after his day-to-day work with the animals, George did begin to understand the extent to which animals are mistreated on factory farms. This face-to-face interaction with abused animals is far more effective for the skeptical George than taking part in shouting, overly dramatic protests. Lorri’s insensitive comparison of killing chickens to the Holocaust, however, threatened to derail the progress.

Similarly, when George visited the office of Dr. Aysha Akhtar to learn about animal testing, Dr. Akhtar’s rational explanation of the extremely low rates at which animal testing were even helpful for humans and display of alternatives seemed to make more of an impression on George, who was impressed that he “finally got to talk to somebody that had something besides a rant.”

Seeing the treatment of cows at a dairy farm and the plight of many domestic animals in shelters did help George see the animal rights cause from a different angle. By the end of the episode, George was willingly explaining to strangers in a supermarket how calves on factory farms are crammed into tight spaces unable to turn around. George declared his surprise at the fact that, despite being ‘hard-headed’, he felt that he had been truly affected by what he had learned. George probably won’t stop hunting or eating meat, but he’ll likely think twice about how animals were treated before they end up on his plate.

Ultimately, PETA’s black-and-white views and shove-it-down-your-throat delivery of their message didn’t exactly enhance Melissa’s message. If anything, it damages many efforts to improve the lives of animals because it automatically puts people with differing views on the offensive. Putting PETA activists together with an avid hunter makes for good TV, but the message may have been more effective if PETA were left out of it.

Initially, when the episode first started, I thought that perhaps the producers of ’30 Days’ intended for Melissa to learn that she may want to soften the presentation of her views in order to make a bigger impact, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. I think that what this episode illustrates by the end, however, is that educating people about the reality of the way animals are treated before they’re on our plates, made into our belts and shoes – or after we drop them off at the pound – is far more effective than stunts and scare tactics.

It’s a shame that the idea of more humane processes for meat and dairy weren’t explored further in this episode, because that’s where I think a true middle ground lies. Humans – as natural omnivores and the presiding predators on the planet – will not be likely to forgo using animals for food and clothing any time soon. However, needless suffering could certainly be eliminated.

In our quest for greater convenience, we have allowed millions of animals to be beaten, electrocuted, blinded, skinned alive, chemically manipulated, crammed into tiny spaces, thrown around like inanimate objects and generally treated like they cannot feel at all. Increased sensitivity to the pain and suffering of animals – and their right to be treated in a way that respects their place on the planet – is the only way to compromise, as George the hunter was able to acknowledge for himself after 30 days.

You can view the episode online at Hulu or just watch here:

Link [Hulu] + [FX]

Morgan Spurlock Hits the West Virginia Coal Mines for ’30 Days’

Coal has certainly taken a beating lately, reputation-wise. Websites like Coal-is-Dirty.com highlight all of the problems with using coal as an energy source, not the least of which is the astounding amount of pollution it produces – which not only harms the environment, but is a serious health hazard as well. That doesn’t mean that the coal industry is going anywhere for the time being, though. As gas prices rise, a lot of people who are more concerned about their wallets than global warming are wondering why we can’t just increase use of the abundance of coal located right here in the USA. Currently, half of the electricity in the United States is powered by coal.

For his cable television show, 30 Days, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock returned to his home state of West Virginia to explore what it’s really like to be part of the coal industry – specifically, to experience daily life as a coal miner. Watch it below and check out our commentary afterward.

On his first day, Spurlock was overwhelmed by the difficulty of shoveling coal onto a moving belt. Sweating profusely and covered in soot, he commented, “I’d like to think that what I’m shoveling here is powering the electricity for a children’s hospital, but in reality, what I’m shoveling here is probably powering some guy masturbating in front of his computer.”

His trainer on the belt said, “All you need to be a coal miner is a weak mind and a strong back. That’s all you need.” That doesn’t mean it doesn’t take skill, though: there are a million things that can go wrong at any point in the day. Coal mining is definitely hard work, and dangerous work at that: probably not worth the average $65,000 annual salary miners make.

The miners are painfully aware of how much West Virginia and the nation depend upon them. That hasn’t stopped many of them from discouraging their children from working in the mines, though. They want them to go to college instead, and avoid falling into the trap of working in a coal mine. These men are all too aware of the fact that every day, they risk never seeing the outside of the mine again.

With this episode, Spurlock has provided a great opportunity to hear what coal miners really think about the industry as well. One miner commented that it’s about time to start using other sources of energy, and that coal miners aren’t stupid – they just can’t pass up the high pay in an area that doesn’t provide any other opportunities. “You’ve got to do something to raise a family.”

The show raises the important point that coal is destined to be a thing of the past as the world looks toward cleaner sources of energy. Wouldn’t it be great to provide these coal miners with safer jobs that won’t give them cancer or leave their families without a husband and father? Imagine if new, renewable energy industries set up shop in places like West Virginia to give these people a new life – a life without coal. In the meantime, more restrictions need to be in place to protect miners and the environment. It may take a long time, but we can only hope that the future holds better things for these people and the rest of the nation.

30 Days airs on FX Tuesdays at 10pm.

Link [Hulu]

Watch for ‘Charlie Jade’, New Eco Series on Sci-Fi Channel

Some of you may already know about the series ‘Charlie Jade’, which ran briefly on The Space Channel and is currently being rerun overseas. The Sci-Fi Channel recently announced that they’re picking up the series for the Friday night lineup, starting on June 6th. ‘Charlie Jade’ has quite an interesting plot involving several parallel universes including a dystopian version, an idyllic version and one that corresponds to present day reality.

The Futon Critic explains it:

“Jade,” which ran for 20 episodes on Canada’s SPACE channel in 2005, is detailed by said network as follows: “What if humans didn’t abuse the earth and its resources? How different would the world be? Take a fantastic leap of the imagination and explore the world through three parallel universes - Alphaverse (what our world could end up being), Betaverse (our world today), and Gammaverse (what our world could have been). Charlie Jade is a rogue detective in Alphaverse who, while on the hunt for the killer of a missing woman, gets caught in an explosion from a covert desert operation, propelling him into a strange parallel universe (Betaverse). As he searches for the truth about the explosion, he is drawn into a conflict that not only involves his home universe and the one he now inhabits, but another pristine pacifist universe (Gammaverse) with unsuspected terror at its heart.”

Scripts are currently being written for a second season of the show, but it hasn’t been greenlit yet.

While I’m generally not a sci-fi geek in any capacity, I may tune in to check out how they pull off the environmental theme. I’d love to see more mainstream entertainment dealing with the possible effects of the harm we’re doing to the planet as humans.

You can see a promo of the show on YouTube. Check out its SciFi Channel debut this Friday at 8/7 central.

Link [The Futon Critic]

Watch Your Favorite Green Eps of South Park Online- Trey and Matt Set SP Free

I am an unabashed hardcore fan of the show South Park. I’ve seen every episode thanks to the magic of file sharing and YouTube and was happy to hear last year that Matt and Trey were planning on setting the show free on the net. They’ve always encouraged their fans to share episodes online and worked out a deal with Comedy Central to stream them all on SouthParkStudios.com. The site went live last week.

South Park has always ridden the edge when it comes to political and social issues and they haven’t shied away from writing about the environment. Here are a few that touch on green and eco issues. Enjoy!

Rainforest Schmainforest- The kids take a school field trip to the rain forest and discover that it actually kind of sucks.

Fun with Veal- The South Park boys bring out their inner animal rights activist and battle to save a bunch of baby cows from being killed for veal.

Die Hippie, Die- South Park is taken over by hippies who converge on the town for a massive hippie rock show. Sure, it’s not really all that environmental but it’s about hippies and we all know hippies love the earth.

Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow- A giant beaver dam breaks and the town figures out that Global Warming is to blame. Naturally, they panic to hilarious effect.

Smug Alert- The Brovlovski Family gets a hybrid car and become smug jerks about it. They move to San Francisco and are saved by Cartment from a giant Smug storm that takes out the city.

ManbearPig- This is my favorite one. Al Gore comes to town to warn the citizens about the dangers of Manbearpig- half man, half bear, half pig.

Link [South Park Studios]

BBC Puts Reality TV Show Stars Out With the Trash- Literally

Talk about trash TV - Tune into BBC America this Sunday and you might just happen upon a gaggle of lost and forlorn Brits, rummaging through mounds and mounds of their own waste. No, not THAT kind of waste… get your filthy minds out of the sewer. We’re talking garbage here, folks. Sweet-smelling and abundant, beautiful and glorious: TRASH!

For a three week period, 11 landfill-rumaging dwellers made their ways through a dump, accepting challenges along the way that involved making the most out of the one thing that they had tons and tons of: crap. Dumped, a four part BBC series, means to draw attention to the dreadful UK landfill situation and airs until the end of March.

Compared to other European nations, the UK ranks low when it comes to recycling. It is estimated that each UK resident throws away 1/2 ton of trash each year, something that this whacked-out reality show is trying to make a stink about…

Links [Green Daily] & [BBC Dumped]

Watch Five Hours of Cable News, Get One Minute of Environmental or Science Coverage

We’re pleased to welcome new writer Anders Porter, a blogger, journalist, and Swedish/English translator from California currently living in Sweden. He blogs on his person website at Anders Porter dot com. This is his first post, so feel free to verbally haze his noob ass.

When I think of cable news, I think of broad, fair, and unbiased reporting. (Insert Fox News joke here.)

I take comfort in knowing that when I flip over to my MSNBC or my CNN, that the talking heads are going to take care of me, that they will dish out what I need, spoon feed me with my news food groups, if you know what I mean.

Well, according to the analysis of cable TV news coverage as reported in the 2008 Annual Report on American Journalism, the cable news networks are definitely living up to their promise of feeding their peeps. That is, of course, if you’re the kind of peep that munches on nothing nothing but politics, foreign policy debate and crime. If you’re looking for a little lettuce and tomato, that’s right - coverage of education, science and, oh yeah - THE ENVIRONMENT - then you gonna be sitting in front of that box for a long, long, long, long time. Uh-huh. Long time.

Turns out that during a five hour non-stop cable news marathon, it is likely that you will see 35 minutes about campaigns and elections and 1 minute and 25 seconds about the environment.

Sweeeeet. Nice to know we have our priorities worked out.

Link [2008 Anual Report on American Journalism] Via Framing Science

Eco-Fail! HGTV’s Green Home Giveaway and The Yukon Hybrid

Huh?

How did the people behind the Green Home Giveaway promotion for HGTV choose a Yukon Hybrid to put in the driveway? Someone screwed uuuuuuupp. That thing is a monster of a truck pulling a whopping 21/22 MPG (the regular Yukon gets 14/20).

Weeeeeak. Haven’t they heard of the Prius?
Link [Ecorazzi]