Yes Men Give Dasani a Truthful Makeover

If more customers knew that Dasani water was simply municipal tap water – the same exact stuff that comes out of their own faucets at home – would they pay a premium for it? Probably not, as notorious eco-pranksters The Yes Men found out during a recent trip to Boston.

The Yes Men and “Coca-Cola spokespeople” unveiled a new, more truthful name and label for Dassani bottled water at a park and then spoke to people about whether they would buy it.

Check it out:

From The Phoenix:

The mock press conference, part of Boston-based Corporate Accountability International’s (CIA) Think Outside the Bottle campaign, protested Coca-Cola’s refusal to state Dasani’s origin — public water sources — on its labels, as Pepsi and Nestlé have done with their bottled-water brands.

“This is a classic case of deception,” said Mike Bonanno (a/k/a Igor Vamos), in town that day with main cohort Andy Bichlbaum (né Jacques Servin) for the opening of The Yes Men Fix the World at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. “They don’t want people to know that they’re drinking tap water because it’s pure profit. Basically, they’ve figured out such a great scam that they don’t want it to end.”

Check out the rest of their eco-pranks at TheYesMen.org.

Link [The Phoenix]

Organic Nation Checks Out Yale’s Winter Greenhouse

Winter may be closing in on us, but that doesn’t mean that we have to stop growing our own food, even for those who live in the cold Northeast. The OrganicNation.tv team talked to Yale Sustainable Food Project director Melina Shannon-DiPietro about the project’s unheated greenhouse, which continues producing tasty winter greens well into the coldest time of the year.

Winter Harvest at Yale’s Greenhouse from OrganicNation on Vimeo.

Want to know more about the Yale Sustainable Food Project? Check out Organic Nation’s other video from their visit to the one-acre organic farm founded by Alice Waters and members of the Yale faculty in 2001. Or, visit Yale.edu/SustainableFood.

Link [Organic Nation] + [Yale]

John Kerry Calls Out Climate Change Denier B.S.

A hack of an “environmental scholar” working for an organization that consistently seeks to undermine efforts to fight global warming got schooled on climate change policy by Senator John Kerry during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on November 10th. Kerry rebuked Green’s comments for a solid five minutes, leaving a floundering Green unable to defend his views as anything other than his own personal opinion.

Kerry: “You may know something that thousands of other scientists don’t. They won a Nobel Prize. You and I didn’t.”

Ken Green’s title as ‘resident environmental scholar’ at the American Enterprise Institute may seem to indicate that he has a clue what he’s talking about. But who, exactly, are Green and this Institute?

From a 2007 Treehugger article:

The American Enterprise Institute, according to the Guardian, was called out in February for ” offering scientists and economists $10,000 each, “to undermine the IPCC report. .” AEI visiting scholar Kenneth Green made the $10,000 offer “to scientists in Britain, the US and elsewhere,” in a letter describing the IPCC as “resistant to reasonable criticism and dissent.” They noted also that AEI “has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil, and more than 20 of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond, a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI’s board of trustees.”

It just goes to show who these people really are – and how easy it is for them to misrepresent themselves to climate change skeptics as “experts”. What a joke.

Link [Treehugger]

Fat, Angry Captain Planet Goes to Copenhagen

What has Captain Planet been doing in all these long years since he was the earth’s premier protector? Apparently, he’s been breathing in a whole lot of nasty toxic air and feeding on the same plastic that’s killing all those albatross chicks. He’s pissed, and headed to Copenhagen to demand action.

“I can barely breathe this air and my stomach is full of plastic! It’s time for you guys to pull together and stop polluting the earth!”

This totally awesome cartoon was created by an Australian animator named Chris who calls himself ‘Lord Zorgatron’. He’s known as ‘SexualLobster’ on YouTube. Check out more of his work at GreasyMoose.com.

Link [GreasyMoose.com] via [Ecorazzi]

South Park Eviscerates ‘Whale Whores’

The Sea Shepherds organization works hard to protect whales from slaughter all over the world, as documented on Animal Planet’s ‘Whale Wars’– but nobody is safe from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who made the group the focus of yet another hilarious episode of South Park entitled ‘Whale Whores’.

Not even the Miami Dolphins are safe from Japanese hunters (decked out in traditional dress) and the “badass” Sea Shepherd crew comes to the rescue with amazingly effective methods like stinky butter bombs. Here’s part 1:

Some animal rights activists might be offended by the harsh lampooning (or should we say harpooning?) of Paul Watson, but don’t get the wrong idea – this episode isn’t sending the message that whaling is okay. It’s asking people to think about the fact that we’re upset by the idea of whales being killed, but don’t extend the same empathy to the animals we slaughter for food.

Watch the whole episode at SouthParkStudios.com.

Link [Ecorazzi]

British Robot Raps About Recycling

Nothing makes kids want to recycle like a rapping robot with a British accent. At least, that seems to be the thinking behind this weird and funny video of an educational presentation by The Housing Education Initiative – made just a little bit stranger by the robot’s sign-spinning backup dancer.

Hey, whatever works! Back in the dark ages when I was in school, recycling education consisted of falling asleep during a lecture. Robots make pretty much everything cooler.

Link [YouTube]

Skunk Whisperer Frees Skunk from Peanut Butter Jar

Peanut butter is irresistible to skunks, says ‘Skunk Whisperer’ (yes – really) Ned Bruha, who was called on the scene after a newspaper delivery woman spotted a skunk with his head stuck in a jar of the tasty goo.

There is officially a ‘whisperer’ for everything.

Your life simply wouldn’t have been complete without seeing a skunk with a peanut butter jar on its head. You’re welcome.

Link [Buzzfeed]

Actress Sienna Miller Unveils Documentary on Congo Women

Last spring, British actress Sienna Miller traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to document the lives of the women who are embroiled in the inescapable political conflict of the region. The documentary, titled ‘8 Minutes’, is named after a horrifying statistic: a woman is raped in the Congo every 8 minutes. The journey changed Miller’s life, and the story she tells is undeniably poignant.

From her travelogues on Take Part:

I met a mother who was running away from a group of militia three days earlier with her baby strapped to her back. They both got shot, but survived and thankfully made it into the facility in time. Her boy is so little and the huge bandages on his arms break my heart. Everything about this place breaks my heart.

These people all have stories which they share with me and there is just simply too much to try to grasp. Everyone has lost something, everyone has lost someone. I meet malnourished babies, mothers, fathers, widows and widowers, malaria sufferers, their eyes glazed, victims of rape and pillaging.

They are all here in massive numbers, and their stories are agonizing. I meet a group of about a hundred who have selected an old man to read out on behalf of them all, their list of grievances. They have no homes and no possessions and they need others to recognize they are in crisis.

Read the rest over at Take Part – and watch the documentary in its entirety at Ecorazzi.

Link [Take Part] + [Ecorazzi]
Photo credit: Take Part

Weirdest Green Cars of the Future

In the future, will we all be traveling in green flying saucers? Probably not, but that doesn’t stop extra-creative sci-fi enthusiasts from dreaming up bizarro vehicles that could have been props in Plan 9 from Outer Space.

According to this strange video (which is apparently narrated by a British robot), all of the craziest concepts from the past half-century are “the green cars of the future”, including the Ford Nucleon – designed in the ‘50s. It’s hardly a round up of green transportation that will actually be produced any time soon, but it’s a funny look at some of the wilder ideas that have been proposed.

Why the hell is the underwater car a convertible? “Hold your breath, honey, we’re going under!”

Link [Treehugger]

Vote for Your Favorite Drive Smarter Challenge Video!

Have you ever wanted to be a film critic? Now’s your chance! It’s time to vote for your favorite video from among ten finalists in the Drive Smarter Video Contest launched by The Alliance to Save Energy. Your vote can help determine who wins the $5000 grand prize and three other exciting prizes!

The entrants took highly creative approaches to illustrate driving and vehicle maintenance tips that save money and increase fuel efficiency. There’s the smart, chatty GPS system that inspires flirting… a carpool with back-seat smooching… a broken-heartened, guitar-strumming, singing cowboy with his truck named Earl…

Public voting on 10 short videos aimed at helping to drive smarter, reduce their gas consumption and drive fewer miles has already begun and continues until Monday, October 19, 11:59 PM (EDT). To rate the videos, visit the Drive Smarter Challenge video contest website: http://drivesmarterchallenge.org/contest.  Videos are just two minutes or shorter, and you can return to the site if you don’t finish rating all 10 in one sitting.

Every video is completely different, and we enjoyed rating our favorites.  Now it’s your turn!

Link [Drive Smarter Challenge]

CO2 is Green, Say Oil Execs in Ludicrous Ad

Attempts by dirty industries to fight the climate bill just keep getting more and more desperate and ridiculous. Care2 spotted a television ad campaign run by oil execs is actually trying to convince the public that excess CO2 is a good thing.

From The Washington Post, via Care2:

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) may be grappling with health care, but in Montana a new advocacy group opposed to climate legislation called CO2 Is Green is taking aim at the next big battle for Congress.

The group is already running television ads: “This will cost us jobs,” one says. “There is no scientific evidence that CO2 is a pollutant. In fact higher CO2 levels than we have today would help the Earth’s ecosystems.” It urges voters to contact Baucus, who in the past has backed bills to cap emissions and allow companies to trade pollution allowances.

The man behind the latest entry to the climate legislation wars is H. Leighton Steward, a veteran oil industry executive, co-author of the “Sugar Busters!” dieting books, and winner of an Environmental Protection Agency award for a report on damage being done to Mississippi wetlands. Now retired, he says he wants to “get the message out there” that carbon dioxide, which the Supreme Court has ruled a pollutant and which most scientists regard as a dangerous greenhouse gas, “is a net benefit for the planet.”

Well, thank the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster that we have oil company bigwigs to steer us in the right direction, not only with these super-intelligent and truthful ads, but by pumping as much CO2 into the atmosphere as humanly possible.

Link [Care2] via [Digg]

Matt Damon’s Clean Water PSA Freakout

Does Matt Damon secretly have a wicked temper? The Bostonite has been captured on camera giving a verbal ass-kicking to environmentalist and actor Adrian Grenier while filming a PSA for clean water organization OneXOne as Grenier’s fellow Entourage star Jeremy Pervert Piven looks on.

Damon is set to appear in a cameo on Entourage next week promoting OneXOne, which is his real-life charity. Here’s the scoop, from US Magazine via Ecorazzi:

“The joke is that Matt is very passionate about his charity — almost in a stalkerish kind of way,” Adrian Grenier, who plays movie star Vince, said. “Vince becomes intimated by his intensity. He ends up bullying Vince into giving much more than he should.”

Costar Emmanuelle Chriqui, who plays Sloan, added: “Matt gets Vince to make a massive donation. He’s like, ‘Bro – whip out your checkbook!’”

So, of course it’s just promotional for Damon’s appearance on Entourage. But, it’s still funny to see this notorious ‘nice guy’ drop the F-bomb a dozen times in a two-minute clip!

Link [Ecorazzi]

Current Green’s Weird Green Video Film Festival

There are plenty of bizarre green videos out there – from ‘Magic Marvelous Compost Bin’ to the Kate Moss paper doll video we featured last week – and Current Green wants to bring them all together for a fabulous film festival of weirdness.

Among the videos nominated for the festival are cheeky rap song ‘In My Prius’, ‘Due to Global Warming, Hell Freezes Over’ and ‘Eco Boy’. Watch Eco Boy kick the evil Pollutor in the balls right here:

Got a weird green video you want to nominate? Head over to Current Green, and check out the rest of the videos while you’re there.

Link [Current Green]

When Trees Attack: Woman Impaled by Falling Limb

Trees are not always our friends. Just ask Sonny Bono… oh, wait, you can’t. Because A TREE KILLED HIM. Well, you can ask Michelle Childers, the woman who miraculously survived being impaled in the neck by a wayward tree limb that was hell-bent on destruction.

Childers was enjoying a leisurely drive on a rural road in Idaho on September 5th with her husband when a spruce tree crashed through the passenger side window of the vehicle. All she felt was a “strange pressure” as her husband told her she’d been impaled.

They drove to a nearby lodge for help, and a helicopter transported her to the hospital where the tree limb was safely removed after 6 hours of surgery.

The photos and video are a gruesome reminder that just about anything, no matter how innocent it may seem, can be deadly. Watch out for that tree!

Link [The Huffington Post]

Naked Kate Moss Paper Doll Warns Against Overconsumption

What does turning model Kate Moss into a used-up hag have to do with being green? Well, Kate teamed up with Green Thing to create a pair of videos that are basically like a green version of the movie Sliding Doors. In the first one, Kate, played by a paper doll, takes every chance to consume as much as possible, and in the second she reuses and recycles things instead.

Green Thing says:

Take one person and make her the ultimate twister, taking every chance to consume something new. Now take the same person and make them the ultimate sticker, sticking with what they had wherever possible. How different would their lives be? That was question that the talented animators David Altweger, Mira Loew, Guillaume Cornet of Unit 10 Collective (www.unit10collective.com) wanted to explore – with one super-ironic twist. What if that person was the world’s premier consumption temptress, a certain Katherine Ann Moss? The result is a brilliant slice of double stop frame fantasy exclusive to Green Thing.

Check it out:

As the soundtrack repeats “New dress, new bag, new phone, new shoes, new man, new phone, but still not happy,” Kate is seen caught in the cycle of consumerism, slowly falling apart over the years until her death in 2037 (announced with the headline, “Overused Kate disintegrates in club”).

But the alternate reality Kate happily dances away in a garden to the tune of “Keep it – play with it – mend it – love it.”

To say that it’s bizarre is putting it mildly – why is there something coming out of her boob? Who are the scary faceless black cutouts in the club? Why is Bruno still front-page news in 2037? But beneath the weirdness is a good message: reuse good. Overconsumption bad.

Link [Green Thing]

Angry Green Girl Uses Boobs and Sarcasm to Push Better Habits

If a hot chick wearing next-to-nothing scoffs at you for environmentally unfriendly habits, would you be enticed to change? Angry Green Girl is counting on it. This network of “hot, green and shameless” women, led by Sophia – resident bitch and official ‘Angry Green Girl’ – is dedicated to “exploiting everything they got to save the world”.

Does it work? It seems like a lot of people could be turned off by the “mean girl” shtick, especially when it comes off so holier-than-thou – and this tact is bound to offend.

But, of course, sex sells, and if Sophia “Angry Green Girl” and her crew keep goading guys into being greener with hybrid-only bikini car washes and things like that, they might have some success.

Or, they might end up with guys tuning in to watch their videos – on mute.

Link [Treehugger]

Futurama’s Leela is an EcoFeminist Hero, Sort of

Ecofeminism, civil disobedience for environmental causes, galactic golf and species extinction: all of this and more is featured on ‘Into the Wild Green Yonder’, the last of a series of straight-to-DVD Futurama movies.

Central to the story is a group of pink-wearing eco-feminists riding around in a ‘Vagiroscope’ battling to save an asteroid of primitive life forms from destruction by a businessman who has created the biggest game of (supremely environmentally unfriendly) miniature golf ever played.

Here’s a quick clip:

Futurama	Weeknights, 9p/8c
Into the Wild Green Yonder – Eco-Feminists
www.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

If you missed ‘Into the Wild Green Yonder’ when it played on Sunday night and you’re too lazy to Netflix it, it’ll be replaying this Wednesday, September 2nd, at 7pm EST on Comedy Central.

But wait, there’s more! Previous green-themed Futurama episodes include ‘The Problem with Popplers’, ‘A Taste of Freedom’     and ‘The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz’, and they even covered poo power.

Link [Comedy Central]

OrganicNation.tv Checks Out Rooftop Farming in Chicago

The team at OrganicNation.tv, who are taking a short break from traveling the nation to explore America’s sustainable food landscape, stopped by Chicago restaurant Uncommon Ground to check out the first certified organic rooftop farm in the nation.

Check it out as Dorothee Royal-Hedinger tours the roof, samples honey from the restaurant’s rooftop bee colony and learns more about the benefits of local produce and the challenges that rooftop farming can pose.

Organic Rooftop Farming in Chicago from OrganicNation on Vimeo.

Want to support OrganicNation.tv? Check out their Earthkeepers page at Changents.com, where you can become a fan, build buzz by sharing their story with friends, donate funds or respond to an action request.

Last chance to support OrganicNation.tv’s bid for the Nau Grant for Change! Voting closes on Monday, August 31st (that’s tomorrow!).

Link [OrganicNation.tv]

Do the Honey Bee! Rap Video Builds Buzz About Threats to Bees

In honor of National Honey Bee Awareness Day, five creative brothers from Los Altos, California made a rap video in which bee-costumed dancers shake their stingers to raise awareness about the plight of honey bees worldwide.

With some heavy reliance on Auto-Tune and the backing of the bee angels at Häagen-Dazs, Max Lanman, a 21-year-old senior at Yale majoring in film studies, directed, edited and photographed a short video featuring four of his brothers and a bunch of friends. One of the brothers, Connor Lanman, wrote a book called “Plight of the Bee” that originally caught Häagen-Dazs’ attention.

The choreography in the video is a nod to the “dance” that honeybees do when they return to the hive after a good round of pollinating. Check it out:

“We’re hoping that “Do The Honey Bee” will help raise honey bee awareness in a fun and original way, and appeal to the greater population,” Max Lanman told The Huffington Post.

Learn more about the challenges facing bees at HelpTheHoneyBees.com.

Link [The Huffington Post]

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