Who’s Who in Green: Ed Begley, Jr.

Actor Ed Begley, Jr. is well known for roles like that of Dr. Victor Erlich in St. Elsewhere, for which he won 6 Emmys, but over time, his environmentalism has begun to outshine his film and television career. Ed has always been an activist, working toward making his own life as eco-friendly as it can be and over the last decade or so, he’s been sharing his passion with the world.

He may sometimes seem like an irascible, get-off-my-lawn type on his HGTV show Living with Ed, but he’s certainly not a shrill holier-than-thou eco-martyr. Ed is the real deal – he lives his beliefs, and his show documents how he’s living the green life in California despite his celebrity status and a wife who’d rather be taking a private jet to Bora Bora. He’s not a poser, using the environmental movement to gain credibility, nor is he wagging his finger at people who do less than earth-friendly things. He simply does what he believes is right, giving advice only when asked.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Ed Begley Jr. was all too aware of the pervasive smog that hangs over the city, and it inspired him to change his life, despite the fact that an eco-friendly lifestyle was highly unusual at the time. He’s a longtime vegan, has been driving an electric car for decades and uses low-tech, man-powered gadgets whenever he can.

Ed arrives at Hollywood events on his bicycle or in his electric car. He’s unapologetic about his decidedly un-Hollywood 2-bedroom 1 ½-bath home, which is powered completely by solar energy.  He ripped out the lawns as soon as he moved in, grows organic produce, cooks meals in a solar oven and fastidiously sorts his recyclables. He collects rainwater in barrels, takes super-short Navy-style showers and recently installed a wind turbine on his roof.

On what he thinks it will take for renewable energy to go mainstream, Ed told Mother Jones,

I think the tipping point is just a critical mass of people who finally accept it. People have it in their mind that it’s too expensive, and so it is. Here is what I would like to have happen: that the people who can afford it would buy solar. Everybody who can afford it—doctors, lawyers, professionals, actors, athletes—people who have the money would put some amount of solar on their house. The way people did with personal computers. Enough people say, “Hey, I want to have a personal computer” in the ’80s and suddenly they got a lot cheaper and by the ’90s, you know, it just went boom. And now they are really cheap. I bought a personal computer in ‘87 with a hard drive, not just floppies, a 25 MB hard drive. You know how small that is. That’s like nothing. It was $4,700 dollars for all the stuff that came with it. And at some point just a few years down the line, it was a fraction of that.

In addition to his reality TV show, Ed has a book called Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life and his own range of cleaning products called ‘Begley’s Best’, which raises money for charity.  He speaks to crowds across the country about sustainability and environmental issues, hoping to get more people excited about the small ways in which they can contribute to the cause every day.

Ed Begley’s Green Score: 50,987

Photos via The New York Times

Who’s Who in Green: Wangari Maathai

Dr. Wangari Maathai is a Kenyan environmentalist and political activist who was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004. Maathai is internationally recognized for her dedication to democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots environmental non-governmental organization, in 1977.

Born in 1940 in the Tetu division of the Nyeri District of Kenya, Maathai received both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in biology, and also studied veterinary medicine, earning the first Ph.D. awarded to an Eastern African woman.  In the 1970s Maathai was a professor of veterinary anatomy at the University of Nairobi and was active in the National Council of Women.

It was during her work with the National Council of Women that Maathai got the idea of planting trees in order to conserve the environment, prevent soil erosion and improve quality of life.  That led to the Green Belt Movement, which has assisted women in planting over 20 million trees on their farms, on schools and on church compounds.  Maathai’s Green Belt Movement spurred the creation of a Pan African Green Belt Network, spreading the idea of the tree-planting initiative.

Wangari Maathai ran for President of Kenya in 1997, but her party withdrew her candidacy a few days before the election without telling her. It was in 1998 that she gained worldwide recognition in her efforts to stop Kenya’s new president from tearing down hundreds of acres of forest to build luxury housing.  She has been arrested numerous times when taking part in protests, including once in 1999 when she suffered head injuries after being attacked while planting trees.

In December 2002, Maathai was elected to Kenya’s Parliament and she was named Deputy Minister of the Environment, Natural Wildlife and Resources in 2003. In 2004, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her dedication to peace, democracy and sustainable development.

Maathai has spent much of her life championing the idea that protecting the environment will help ease poverty.  Here’s what she had to say in September at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting, about her belief that if you destroy the environment, poverty cannot be eliminated:

I eventually found out that no matter what we do, after the global level, even at the national level, that it is extremely grassroots level, and the majority of the people that we have mentioned here, when we mention poverty, we are thinking about a large number of people at the grassroot level.

Now those people are mostly dependent on primary natural resources. We’re talking land, soil, water, forests. Yet we haven’t mentioned many of those issues except in terms of deficiency [...] But we need to think of how we can sustainably manage these primary resources that all of us depend on.

But the people at the grassroot are the ones that are most directly dependent on them. And even on issues of climate change. Even as we speak of what is going to happen, it’s already happening to a large number of people. They are experiencing lack of water. They are experiencing drying rivers. And most of all, they are worried because their forests are disappearing. And that is partly why I think that the environment is extremely important.

Wangari Maathai has done as much for environmentalism in Africa as Al Gore has done here in the United States, earning her an esteemed place among the most influential environmental figures of modern times. As much as she has already achieved, she will undoubtedly continue exemplary and inspirational work on behalf of the earth and its people.

Wangari Maathai’s Green Score: 90,389

Who’s Who in Green: Chip Giller

Before Grist.org burst onto the scene in 1999, environmentalism online was all about doom and gloom. Chip Giller, Grist’s founder, had a feeling that all of the dour finger-pointing and long journalistic articles about sea turtles weren’t exactly drawing a jaded public to the cause.  So, Grist’s signature editorial voice was born – one that’s sometimes lighthearted, almost always humorous or satirical.  Grist, which began as a tiny online newsletter, is now one of the most influential environmental blogs, drawing in nearly a million daily readers.

Grist.org paved the way for blogs like the one you’re reading at this very moment. The idea that environmentalism can be fun has undoubtedly helped to catch the interest of millions of people who otherwise would have been turned off by the tone of the movement.

For this reason, Chip Giller was named among TIME Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment, an honor he shares with such illustrious company as Al Gore, Wangari Maathai, David Attenborough and the designers of the Toyota Prius.  He was also awarded the 2006 National Conservation Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Federation, and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Newsweek and on the Today Show.

Check out what Chip had to say on PBS Now:

When asked by Mother Jones recently what he thought it would take to get people to act on the environmental crisis, Chip said:

I think to get society to act as a whole, people need inspiration. I also think things like the Katrina tragedy are definitely a wake-up call. To be fully honest, I think it probably will take some more disasters to really get people to understand the urgency behind these issues. But the other really important ingredient is inspiration. It’s almost like leadership and inspiration from the top, and there needs to be individual initiative from the bottom up.

Grist.org is the ideal place for people on the cusp of interest in ‘going green’ to get their info and news, so be sure to forward it along to your friends and family! And be sure not to miss regular Grist features like From A to Green, Ask Umbra and The Grist List.

Chip Giller’s Green Score: 32,145

Who’s Who in Green: Chico Mendes

Hailed as an environmental hero since the 80’s, Chico Mendes fought a dramatic battle against the burning and logging of the Brazilian rainforest and ultimately gave his life for the cause.  He was born into a rubber tapping family in 1944.  Rubber tapping is a harmless method of extracting sap from rubber trees, and it’s been practiced in the Amazon for decades.  Mendes himself became a rubber tapper as an adult, and this sustainable agriculture system is what unwittingly led him into the world of environmental activism.

While the rubber tappers sought to extract resources from the Amazon without harming it, other industries weren’t so keen on keeping the trees standing.  Miners and cattle farmers wanted to tear down the forests so they could replace it with strip mines and pasture, which make a far bigger profit.  The rubber tappers weren’t going to give up without a fight, though – it was their only way to feed their families, and they felt tied to the trees.  So they would march down the logging trails, disarming the guards and attempting to convince the ranchers’ workers to stop the destruction.

It was tough work, and Mendes saw a friend and ally assassinated in 1980 for standing up to the ranchers. It was then that Mendes decided to take his battle higher up, advocating for the idea of creating forest reserves that could be managed by traditional communities and sustainably harvesting goods like rubber and Brazil nuts. He then founded the Xapuri Rural Worker’s Union, becoming its president.  The union sought to hold their ground against the ranchers, and enjoyed some successes over the years. Mendes taught the surprisingly large numbers of rubber tappers who came to the union meetings about deforestation, cattle ranching and the threat to their livelihoods.

It was at this time that Mendes captured the attention of the international environmental movement.  Mendes and the Xapuri Rural Worker’s Union aligned themselves with environmentalism and in 1985, Mendes was the subject of a documentary by an English filmmaker.

In 1987 Mendes became renowned for his stewardship of the Amazon, flying at the request of the National Wildlife Federation and the Environmental Defense to Washington D.C. to convince the Inter-American Development Bank to consider the preservation of the forest and its inhabitants while carrying out their road project.  This success led to two international environmental awards.

Mendes began his campaign to stop logger Alves de Silva from logging an area that was planned for a reserve in 1988.  It was a struggle, but he managed to stop the planned deforestation so the reserve could be created.  He also gained a warrant for de Silva’s arrest for a  murder committed in another state, but the warrant was never acted upon by police.

Months later, a week after his 44th birthday, Chico Mendes was assassinated at his home in Xapuri.  Alves de Silva and his son, Darli, were sentenced to 19 years in prison for their part in the killing.

The sensational nature of Mendes death only served to bring his cause even more attention, and the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve was created in the area where he lived, in his honor.  Mendes has since been the subject of several plays, movies and songs and will always be remembered for the spirited activism that highlighted the plight of his homeland.

Chico Mendes’ Green Score: Score: 65,342

Link [Global 500]
Photo credit: American.edu + Encarta

Who’s Who in Green: Barack Obama

Barack Obama may not be an environmental activist, a green businessman or the inventor of any  important eco-technology.  But, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t contributed greatly to the cause. Obama, in his time as a United States Senator, has proven with his voting record that he’s passionate about the environment – and he has long called for a clean, green energy revolution.

The Illinois senator’s record shows that he has been solidly behind replacing fossil fuels with cleaner renewable energy.  Sen. Obama has actively sought to reduce our dependence on oil, voting for legislation that supports technology like solar and wind power. He has voted to remove oil- and gas-exploration subsidies, and to make oil-producing cartels illegal. He backs windfall profits on petroleum companies.

Sen. Obama has also voted to provide incentives for companies that lowered dependence on oil, improved conservation and reduced pollution.  In 2005, he voted in favor of a failed amendment that sought to improve automobile efficiency, which would have helped reduce air pollution as well as energy consumption, and in 2006 he sponsored legislation raising the standard fuel economy four percent per year until 2018.  You can read Senator Obama’s full list of environmental accomplishments and contributions at Grist.org.

Perhaps nothing shows the depth of Sen. Obama’s understanding of our climate crisis as well as the speech he made on April 3rd, 2006 in Chicago, entitled ‘The Coming Storm: Energy Independence and the Safety of Our Planet’. Sen. Obama relates stories about ice melting in tiny villages in Alaska, explains how global warming is threatening the earth and expresses frustration that the Bush administration has continued to cling to oil and has not acted in any meaningful way. He also offers a ray of hope: the promise of alternative energy.

“The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much we’re contributing to the warming of the earth’s atmosphere and how much is naturally occurring, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return. And unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels and chart a new course on energy in this country, we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe.”

As President, Barack Obama will fight global warming proactively and without the corrupt ties that have bound our previous leaders to the oil industry. Obama’s plan for energy and the environment stresses the importance of invigorating the economy with green jobs, capping emissions, investing in renewables, and phasing out oil as an energy source. Obama has also called for all new buildings in America to be carbon neutral by 2030, and for 25% of U.S. electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025.  Read Obama’s full New Energy for America plan at the Barack Obama website.

Barack Obama’s Green Score: 60,489 (and we’re sure it’s going to go through the roof in the next 8 years!)

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

Who’s Who in Green: William Kamkwamba

William Kamkwamba, at fourteen years old, was facing a situation that most Americans could never dream of: his parents could no longer afford to continue his schooling, so he was frced to drop out. His sister had developed a nasty cough from the smoking paraffin candles used to light his family’s home in a Malawian village without electricity. William, one of seven children, was frustrated at the idea of being unable to continue his education, to learn things that could enable him to help his family.

So, William took things into his own hands. With the help of his mentor, Dr. Hartford Mchazime and the Malawi Teacher Training Authority (USAID), William educated himself, reading every book he could get his hands on. One of those books happened to be Using Energy by Mary Atwater, and it inspired him to take on an extremely ambitious project: building a bare-bones but fully-functioning windmill out of scrap materials like salvaged broken pipes, wooden poles, old shoes, copper wire and his father’s old bicycle. He knew that a windmill could provide electricity for his house, eliminating the need for those unhealthy, hard-to-come-by candles.

He cut PVC pipes, heated them and pounded them flat to serve as blades. When a bicycle chain didn’t work the way he wanted it to, he replaced it with an old fan belt from a car. William’s makeshift invention provided enough electricity to power his room, but that wasn’t enough – so he set out to improve it.

He took an old barrel to a tinsmith and had it turned into new, more efficient blades. He took parts from his father’s bike to increase the gear ratio, which helped turn the turbine faster and boost power. He even made electrical components from scratch, fabricating a light switch from plastic pipe and rubber from shoes. Soon, his windmill was supplying power for his family’s entire house as well as charging local cell phones and a car battery for backup power.

Once the word got out about what William had done, he was invited to become a fellow at TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) GLOBAL 2007. TED seeks to spread innovative ideas that have the power to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. TED gave William a computer – which he now powers with his windmill.

Watch William discuss how he built his windmill in this video clip:

William is now using his wind-powered energy to reach out to people in his community. He designed a radio station that transmits to an audience within 100 square meters, and hopes to expand that to 20 miles so he can broadcast messages to his fellow Africans about not contracting HIV.

But he’s not stopping there. William’s next project is building a larger windmill that can help pump water and irrigate his family’s vegetable garden. He hopes to eventually be able to irrigate all of the crops in his village. Through his fellowship with TED, William has received enough support to help him improve his inventions by incorporating solar energy. He has also received enough donations to fund mentorships and his education.

William Kamwkamba’s inspiring story has touched people all over the globe, demonstrating the power of creativity and persistence in the face of a profound lack of resources. You can follow William’s journey at his Malawi Windmill blog, where he keeps readers updated on his inventions and their impact on his community as well as his own life.

William Kamkwamba’s Green Score: 20,893

Photo credit: MyHero.com

Who’s Who in Green: Sean Daily

Sean Daily is the co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Green Living Ideas, a website that provides ideas, tips and info to help people improve the sustainability of every aspect of their lives, from consumption of energy at home to waste recycling. If you’ve ever had a question about how to ‘green up’ just about anything in your life, chances are, Green Living Ideas has the answer – it’s the most comprehensive source of green living tips on the web.

Sean is also host of the popular Green Talk Radio podcast, which is a play-on-demand audiocast that brings all of Green Living Ideas’ tips to the airwaves. Listeners tuning into Greek Talk Radio will get a plethora of green tips through interviews with experts, authors and owners of green businesses around the world. Topics on Green Talk Radio run the gamut from making smart purchasing decisions to the latest green technology.

Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Sean Daily is an internationally recognized expert on technology publishing and enterprise information technologies. Before he founded Green Living Ideas, Sean founded and served as CEO at RealTimePublishers.com, which is a leading web-based publisher of books, community portals, videos and other media. That experience undoubtedly gave him a lot of practical knowledge and inspiration for Green Living Ideas, which is brimming with information written by a team of ‘green gurus’.

Wondering how to battle household pests in an environmentally friendly way? Green Living Ideas has the scoop. Looking for eco-friendly gift ideas? Check. Seeking information about sustainable seafood, or tips for removing toxins from the air in your home? Check and double check. Recent articles illuminate the ways you can choose investment stocks according to the companies’ social concerns, how to find a greener plumber, an overview of eco eyewear and how to achieve healthy, organic soil to grow veggies in. We told you it’s comprehensive!

Through providing the public with such a huge volume of incredibly useful green info, Sean has put the power of living sustainably into the hands of anyone who can access the internet. That’s big – and it’s testament to how much this podcaster, entrepreneur, writer and visionary can achieve in the years to come.

Sean Daily’s Green Score: 22,332

Who’s Who in Green: Hank Green

Hank Green is the founder and editor of EcoGeek.org, one of the most popular and well-respected sources of green technology news on the net.  Hank started EcoGeek in graduate school as part of an assignment, and it has evolved to become a highly trafficked blog serving up 10 posts daily on topics like electric cars, solar panels, wind tubines, ethanol and every type of eco-gadget known to man.

EcoGeek is driven by the belief that “technology can be a force for evil, or for awesome”.  That is, technology can help us achieve a balance that allows us to live convenient modern lives, and still be good to the earth. This ‘symbiosis between nature and technology’ defines the content on EcoGeek, which is written by Hank along with a great team of writers who keep up the steady stream of fresh green tech news and features.

The EcoGeek blog network also includes Carectomy, Envirovore and EnviroWonk, all dealing with environment-related topics.  EnviroWonk focuses on the green side of politics, Envirovore hashes out the environmental impact of food and Carectomy is all about ‘removing cars from people’.  Each blog provides unique, interesting, well-written content in niches that were previously lacking any real presence.

Aside from his work on EcoGeek, Hank has written for Treehugger as well as Mental_Floss.  He’s also a YouTube star, appearing in a series of daily video blogs called ‘Brotherhood 2.0’, created during 2007 when Hank and his brother, young adult novelist John Green, decided to communicate through video instead of text for a year.  The vlog has been featured on BBC radio and the Wall Street Journal, and has a fan base of 20,000 people, affectionately known as Nerdfighters.  Hank’s music can be heard on YouTube as well, like the awesome ‘Baby I Sold Your Dog on Ebay’ and ‘Accio Death Hallows’.  Hank also appears regularly on Planet Green’s nightly news show ‘The G Word’, and has been interviewed by NPR’s All Things Considered and Air America’s The Young Turks.

Some of Hank’s best environmental writing was done when he was writing a weekly column for a daily Boulder, Colorado newspaper. As Hank himself describes it, the column was about ‘being young, poor, and green’, and covers everything from fair trade coffee to scabies.

Hank’s efforts with EcoGeek have already caught the eye of TIME Magazine, who called the blog “porn for hardcore science, tech and enviro freaks” and noted funny post titles like “Sexy Photos of a Solar Furnace in Uzbekistan”.  Hank Green does indeed help make the environmental movement on the web more fun, and that’s what we love about him.  Nerdfighters FTW!

Hank Green’s Green Score: 15,984

Who’s Who in Green: Jason Graham-Nye

Disposable diapers are a huge tax on the environment. They’re the third-largest contributor to landfills in the world, yet only 5% of the world’s population actually uses them. Just one disposable diaper takes up to 500 years to decompose. Learning these facts was what led Jason Graham-Nye, who was expecting a baby with his wife at the time, to research alternatives. The Graham-Nyes did the math: they’d be using around 60 diapers a week until toilet-training age, per child. It seemed outrageous, and they thought for sure there was a better way.

Living in drought-plagued Australia, the Graham-Nyes didn’t want to go the cloth route, since washing them uses so much water, so they came up with a compromise: flushable diapers. A company in nearby Tasmania was making them, so they ordered some and loved them. They decided to share their discovery with customers in the U.S., buying the worldwide rights, and gDiapers was born.

gDiapers are easy to use and good for the environment. They consist of a washable cotton outer ‘little g’ pant and a plastic-free flushable diaper refill. The breathable material keeps baby dry and leads to fewer diaper rashes. Wet diapers can be composted – they break down in 50-150 days. A starter gDiapers kit retails for $24.99 and includes two washable fabric pants, 20 flushable inserts, two liners and a swish stick to aid with flushing.

gDiapers even has a YouTube channel, filled with convenient videos like flushing tips, fit tips and even a slideshow of photos showing an actual soil breakdown trial of gDiapers versus disposables. View that one below:

This revolution in baby diapering has caught on fast, becoming a big hit with eco-conscious parents who also want to reduce the exposure their babies get to the kinds of harsh chemicals used in conventional disposable diapers. They’re an especially convenient choice for people who don’t have easy access to washers and dryers for cloth diapering, but still want to stay away from disposables.

gDiapers’ U.S. launch was held in the Graham-Nyes’ new home of Portland, Oregon. Since then, the company has grown rapidly, and gDiapers will undoubtedly only grow more popular as millions of people across the world begin to understand the benefits of ‘going green’. We wish Jason and Kimberley much luck and success in the future!

Check out Jason’s thoughts on everything from politics and yoga to childrearing and his business at his blog, gDiapers.typepad.com.

Jason Graham-Nye’s Green Score: 21,872

Who’s Who in Green: Majora Carter

The South Bronx, where Majora Carter grew up, wasn’t exactly an inspiring place for a creative girl who would go on to study cinema.  Back then, as Majora told CNN, the area was considered “the poster child for urban blight”.  Waste facilities and other kinds of polluting infrastructure crowd this neighborhood outside Manhattan.  While the South Bronx is better now than it was when she was a child, Majora was still stunned by the prevalence of such facilities in a poor community.  She decided to get more involved, and founded Sustainable South Bronx, an organization that works to promote green collar jobs and sustainable development to create healthier communities and help lift people out of poverty.

Over the years, the South Bronx has literally served as a dumping ground for waste.  The air quality was abysmal and athsma rates were raising ever-higher.  When Majora went back to live with her parents while seeking a graduate degree from New York University, she noticed a disused stretch of waterfront one day and thought, why can’t that be a usable, clean, green space for the community to enjoy? She wrote a $1.2 million Federal Transportation planning grant for the South Bronx Greenway, which resulted in a big victory: an 11-mile waterfront park.

The South Bronx still faces plenty of problems.  It handles more than 40 percent of New York City’s commercial waste.  There’s also a sewage treatment plant, a sewage sludge palletizing plant and four power plants.  Residents breathe in diesel emissions from about 60,000 diesel truck trips every week.  Majora hopes that Sustainable South Bronx’s efforts will inspire the community to come together and fight against the kind of discrimination that results in poor communities being kept on the receiving end of all of this pollution.

Five years ago, Sustainable South Bronx started an urban green-collar job training program, Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST). It focused on individuals who needed help the most; many of the trainees were formerly incarcerated. The program has a fantastic 85 percent employment rate in areas like forestry, green roof installation, brown field cleanup and maintenance.

Other projects by the Sustainable South Bronx include building a park on the site of a former concrete plant, developing an ecological restoration workforce to protect the environment, replacing the abandoned Sherridan Expressway along 1.25 miles of the Bronx River with riverfront housing and retail stores and advocating for swimmable waterways.

Check out this video of Majora talking about ‘greening the ghetto’:

Of Sustainable South Bronx’s future, Majora told CNN,

In ten years I hope that Sustainable South Bronx has worked itself out of a job because our work to help create the South Bronx as a hope for green businesses, for clean businesses, has taken off so much; that our 25 percent unemployment rate is in the past; that our asthma rates have plummeted because there is so much green space along the new Greenway that has been built here; that there are so many people bike riding and the diabetes rate is gone; and that Nobel Prize Laureates are being born.

In 10 years, if we play our cards right and make the right partnerships, whether that’s with the city or with businesses, absolutely. I don’t think it would take much for that to happen. When my parents moved here 60 years ago, this place was a working class community and it was thriving. We can be thriving again.
There was a different kind of manufacturing then, but it was manufacturing and the jobs were right here in this country. People were able to make livings out of it and the gap between rich and poor was smaller.

I think we need to decide as a society, as a country, that it’s not ok that people are as poor as they are right now. We’ve got to decide that we want to live in a world that is sane and happy and healthy, and that everyone deserves that.

Majora has been named among Newsweek’s ‘Who’s Next in 2007’, The NY Post’s 50 most influential women in New York City, Essence Magazine’s 25 Most Influential African-Americans of 2007 and Vibe Magazine’s New Power Generation.  She has also been awarded the National Audubon Society’s Rachel Carson Award for outstanding efforts in environmental protection.  In fact, she’s received so many awards that the list is too lengthy to include here! Check it out on her Wikipedia page.

Majora is also co-founder of Green for All with fellow Who’s Who in Green Van Jones, which aims to help raise people out of poverty through green jobs.  Majora looks forward to a future where the world works together to create communities that are safe and healthy, and she’s inspiring plenty of people along the way.

Majora Carter’s Green Score: 74,887

Green College Spotlight: Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire

Lately, Dartmouth College is getting just as much attention for its sustainability initiatives as for its academics. Named by Forbes as one of the greenest colleges in the nation, Dartmouth, located in beautiful Hanover, New Hampshire, has put many projects in place on campus to help reduce the school’s carbon footprint.  They’re reducing waste, conserving energy, eating organic and designing campus buildings responsibly.

Student organizations include ECO (Environmental Conservation Organization), which works to educate students about recycling, climate change and energy efficiency; The Dartmouth Organic Farm, where organic food is grown amidst a solar-powered greenhouse and wood-fired bread oven and the Sustainable Living Center, where 18 residents and other dedicated students will teach and learn the daily practices that contribute to a more sustainable lifestyle.  The Big Green Bus is a twelve-member group of Dartmouth students who traveled the U.S. this summer in a school bus running on veggie oil to educate the public about sustainability – check them out on Changents!

Dartmouth also has a Sustainable Move In/Out program.  Students with items they no longer need can leave them on campus to be stored over the summer, and then they’re sold to returning students and first-year students in the fall. It’s a great way to prevent a bunch of stuff from ending up in the landfill – which is what happens on most college campuses.

In 2007, Dartmouth received a grade of A- from the Sustainability Endowments Institute, a Massachusetts organization involved in research and education on the sustainability of higher education endowments.  The SEI specifically praised Dartmouth for its efforts in administration, food and recycling, green building, endowment transparency and shareholder engagement.  It also highlighted Dartmouths’ efforts to buy locally grown food to serve in campus dining facilities, as well as the new waste-free dining option for students.

The waste-free dining option is available at campus eatery Home Plate.  Under the new program, nearly all formerly prepackaged foods such as milk and condiments are now served in bulk containers, and reusable tableware is now offered in place of disposable.  Food waste is composted and put back into campus landscaping.

Two notable Dartmouth alumni who has gone on to focus on green issues are William McDonough and Olivia Zaleski.  William McDonough is an eco-architect and co-creator of the Cradle to Cradle design concept. Olivia is managing editor of Eco-Chick.com and writer for The Huffington Post, The Daily Green and Treehugger.  Both have been featured in EarthFirst.com’s ongoing series, ‘Who’s Who in Green’.

Who’s Who in Green: Adam Gardner

Many people may already know Adam Gardner from his band Guster, in which he sings and plays guitar.  But playing music isn’t Adam’s only passion – he’s also an environmental activist, having co-founded Reverb with his wife, environmentalist Lauren Sullivan.  Reverb greens up summer tours, making sure that all that partying has as small a footprint on the earth as possible.

There’s a certain stereotype of musicians trashing everyplace they go – from hotel rooms to stadiums – but not all musicians go around wasting resources and littering just for the hell of it.  Adam says many of them want to do better, but they lack the know-how and resources.  That’s where Reverb comes in.

Adam and Lauren were inspired to start Reverb when he was touring with Guster back in 2004 and they barely had a chance to see each other.  Looking for a way to merge their worlds, Lauren realized how powerful it can be to have artists back causes.  They decided to help bands that wanted to go green, doing all of the research for them and making it easy for them to stick to their commitment.

Reverb has worked with acts like Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Panic at the Disco, The Dave Matthews Band, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sheryl Crow.  Reverb has helped green more than 50 tours, reducing 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide and distributing about 250,000 gallons of biodiesel to music acts.  Reverb’s greening services include recycling, waste reduction, green bus supplies and cleaners, biodegradable catering products, energy efficiency, a green contract rider, eco-friendly merchandise and green sponsorship.

Reverb also helps spread the message to fans through interactive exhibits at concerts, like their ‘Eco Village’.  The Eco Village creates a festival-like atmosphere and puts the spotlight on local and national non-profits, as well as green technologies and eco-friendly samples.  Fans can offset their own carbon, register to vote and sign up to win prizes.  Each Eco Village is built to reflect the band’s causes and interests.

Adam also testified on Capitol Hill last fall about the benefits of biofuel to the music industry, telling Billboard Magazine, “I’ve never been more nervous in my life.  I basically said, ‘We’d love for Reverb to be out of business, as far as coordinating biodiesel for tours,’ ” he says. “[Artists] should be able to pull up to any ol’ truck stop and get it. It shouldn’t be something we have to find for tours.”

Of Reverb’s use of carbon offsets, Adam told Ecorazzi,

“Let’s talk about offsets for a sec. The NY Times has been running a bunch [of articles] about it lately. This is what I think about offsets: I think obviously you need to reduce your footprint first and foremost. You gotta do what you can to be more efficient, use less energy and create less carbon. So obviously you are shrinking your footprint first.

“And then there is some inevitable footprint left over - well then what do you do with that? That’s where I think offsets do come in. And the key to offsets is making sure that you’re buying them from the right place. Because carbon offsets are not created equal.

“There are a lot people out there that see dollar signs and are selling things that aren’t carbon offsets. We use Native Energy and what I like about them is that money goes directly towards building new renewable energy sources like wind farms and solar arrays. So to me that’s what you want to do, you want to be able to point to something and say that got built with my help. And that’s an offset - you’re creating something that otherwise wouldn’t have existed without your help. Help being in this case, simply buying renewable energy credits.”

As the world becomes more environmentally aware, no doubt more musicians will be looking to green up their act.  Adam Gardner has helped start a revolution in the music industry, and the world is far better off for it.

Adam Gardner’s Green Score: 28,983

Who’s Who in Green: Olivia Zaleski

Olivia Zaleski is a freelance writer and green living expert who writes for numerous green blogs and websites, and frequently shares her tips with national radio host Dr. Pat and on ABC’s Good Morning America.  Olivia was born and raised in the urban jungle of NYC, and was very much a city girl until she was 16, when she was sent to an organic farm in Vermont.  There, she spent a lot of time outdoors, even spending three days in the woods by herself – with nothing more than a tarp, sleeping bag, four bagels and a hunk of cheese.

She went on to study art history at Dartmouth College, and spent two summers at the Rhode Island School of Design.  She briefly worked in fashion merchandising for a large corporation, and during that time was exposed to the environmental issues that came to light during the company’s production process.  It sparked her passion for responsible design, and she began learning and writing about various environmental problems and solutions.

Olivia, who again lives in NYC, is managing editor of Eco-Chick.com and also writes for Treehugger, The Daily Green and The Huffington Post, where her syndicated column ‘Enviro-Mental: Going Green Without Going Crazy‘ repeatedly breaks over 80,000 page views.  Olivia’s signature writing style is sharp and witty, with entertaining topics like ‘Top 10 Most Useless Items of Crapola’.

Click the image above to watch a video clip of one of Olivia’s Good Morning America appearances at The Huffington Post.

Olivia also played an integral role in the launch of Huffington Post Green, a new addition to the hugely popular online magazine The Huffington Post, which consistently ranks as the #1 blog on Technorati and gets mind-boggling numbers of visitors each day. The Huffington Post Green is entirely dedicated to environmental stories, from ‘Will Anyone Seriously Question T. Boone Pickets at the Big Tent?’ to ‘The Art of Dumpster Diving’.

Olivia is dedicated to making green mainstream, and her writing draws attention to everything from the latest line of sustainable clothing to her tips for greening up a Christmas tree.  We’re looking forward to seeing more of Olivia’s green ventures in the future!

Olivia Zaleski’s Green Score: 12,378

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

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

Who’s Who in Green: Michael d’Estries

How do you get people inspired to act on behalf of the environment in this superficial, celebrity-obsessed world? Highlight when celebs do good things for the planet, of course – which is exactly what Michael d’Estries set out to do when co-founding Ecorazzi.com, one of the web’s most popular green blogs.

Michael was first inspired to become active in the green movement when he moved to Ithaca, New York in 2004. The city’s passion and drive for environmentalism motivated him to look deeper into green issues, but Michael was frustrated by the lack of good info online. That’s what spurred him to become one of the best-known and most prolific writers and editors in the green blogosphere.

In 2006, Michael founded Ecorazzi along with Rebecca Carter. The popular site is now the go-to source for all things celebrity-related in the green world, as they highlight all of the things that famous folks are doing to highlight and educate on environmental issues. They also catch stars in the act of committing eco-sins, like consuming vast quantities of water in their homes or driving gas-guzzling SUVs. Ecorazzi, the only website of its kind, was named 2007’s Blog of the Year by VegNews, and was also named among the Top 50 Eco Blogs by the Times Online.

One of the coolest things about Ecorazzi is how connected they are across the globe. With correspondents in places like New York, LA, Seattle, Miami and the UK, they’re able to cover events in-person wherever they happen, whether it’s a celebrity gala in Manhattan or an animal rescue fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion. Plus, we’ll be seeing a lot more Ecorazzi web videos in the future!

Check out the Ecorazzi video below of Tracy Metro covering the green carpet at the 12th annual Global Green Millenium Awards.

Michael is also founder and co-editor of Groovy Green, as well as Worst Cook Ever. He lends his editing talents to Ecotality Life as well, and is a frequent guest on Josh Dorfman’s satellite radio program, The Lazy Environmentalist.

In an interview with Brand Republic, Michael discussed Ecorazzi’s success and where he predicts the environmental movement is headed.

Thanks to social aggregators like Digg and StumbleUpon, d’Estries says the sites’ content “catches the eyes of people who would never have gone [there]. People can offer fresh perspectives… We’re not just preaching to the choir.”

D’Estries is thrilled with the current level of environmental awareness and mainstream-media dialogue, including special green issues, but predicts, “Like all good trends, it will eventually calm down and just become a part of life.

“Just every month will deal with sustainability, no one will even notice,” he adds. “That’s the best thing I can hope for.”

With many fresh new ideas and projects in the works, Michael’s star will undoubtedly continue to rise in the years to come – we’re sure that his green score is going to go through the roof!

Michael d’Estries’ Green Score: 11,187

Who’s Who in Green: Heather Stephenson

For decades, the idea of ‘going green’ insinuated to most of the general population a whole lot of discomfort, inconvenience and unattractiveness. That’s part of what held a lot of people back from being more environmentally responsible – this idea that you had to sacrifice so much of your life in order to do it. But Heather Stephenson knew that it didn’t have to be that way, so along with partner Jennifer Boulder she launched the website Ideal Bite in May of 2005. Ideal Bite offers ‘bite-size tips for light green living’ – in other words, it makes living green accessible and attractive to an audience made up primarily of women across the globe.

Ideal Bite, which is self-described as ‘a sassier shade of green’, offers up daily tips that help people make small decisions each day to be more eco-friendly. Each tip is ranked with between one and five green apples with 5 being easy, inexpensive and high-impact. The tips range from recommendations for stylish eco-handbags to reducing the margins on your electronic documents to reduce paper waste. They’re hip, accessible and fun – just what the green movement needed to get some momentum and push forth into mainstream consciousness.

Heather grew up in Libby, Montana, a logging town where residents were proud of being supported by the timber industry and environmentalism was a dirty word. That didn’t stop her from being inspired to do what she could to help the planet. Heather, a yoga enthusiast, moved to Brooklyn in search of a more receptive environment. Before founding Ideal Bite she worked in advertising and technology, and she also founded UrbanSage, a NY-based rooftop garden design/build firm. She recently moved to San Francisco, where she says the atmosphere is great because of how supportive the city’s residents are to green ideas.

Here’s a video clip of Heather discussing Ideal Bite’s business mode and how they create a relationship with their readers:

Heather’s a big fan of incremental steps toward being green, as evidenced by Ideal Bite’s easygoing vibe. Of her own failings and the eco-confessions displayed on Ideal Bite – revealing Ideal Bite staffers’ obstacles along the path to being green - she told San Fransisco 7×7,

“No one’s perfect. Scaring people into a green lifestyle isn’t our style. I’m not even halfway there, but I’m definitely trying.”

Heather may not be one of the extreme eco-warriors who have completely transformed their lives to help the earth, but that doesn’t mean she’s not making a huge difference in the world. Through Ideal Bite, Heather has brought environmentalism to the masses – in a way that inspires them to keep taking the next step. It’s effective, and it shows – Ideal Bite has a list of over 100,000 subscribers and is sure to keep on growing in the years to come.

Heather Stephenson’s Green Score: 23,838

Photo credit: Jennifer Hale/7×7sf

Who’s Who in Green – Van Jones

‘Vangelism’ – it’s what Grist.org dubbed environmental and civil rights advocate Van Jones’ brand of activism. Not many environmental activists can say they’ve got a movement named after them, but Van Jones isn’t just any environmental activist.

What makes Van Jones’ work so unique is the fact that he’s equally dedicated to the human side of the environmental movement. He believes that helping the earth can help lift millions of people out of poverty at the same time, through a new, green economy. Van strongly believes that green collar jobs and opportunities can provide a positive path and help fight against social injustice. He has said that he’s just a soldier in the battle against eco-apartheid – an equal opportunity green economy is his goal.

Van is the founder and president of Green for All, an Oakland California-based organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. He also founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in 1996, named for the civil rights and human rights heroine. Green for All actually grew out of a project that Van was working on for the Ella Baker Center, creating a ‘Green Job Corps’ in Oakland. Green for All now links thousands of activists, organizations, policy makers, practitioners, businesses and community leaders together to advance the vision of a green economy that’s accessible to all Americans.

Van has been honored for many awards over the years, including the 1998 Reebok International Human Rights Award, the international Ashoka Fellowship, selection as a World Economic Forum ‘Young Global Leader’, and the Rockefeller Foundation “Next Generation Leadership” fellowship. He was also the recipient of this year’s Global Green USA Millenium Award, and was our very own #2 “Hottest Guy in Green”.

Here’s a great video clip of Van Jones’ interview with ABC News, where he discusses the Green for All campaign and his goal to bring green-collar jobs to the disadvantaged.

Van told Mongabay.com in June, “The idea of green-collar jobs tends to bring up the best in people. Often people from the government, from labor unions, from the businesses, people who work with community centers for young people, they had never met in a conversation where they are trying to create something together. When they met, they had to fight about something. This is an opportunity for people to say. ‘Hey, we have to come together and co-create an opportunity here for our community.’ This brings out incredibly creative thinking for the long-term good of the community.”

Fighting tirelessly to bring green opportunities to poor communities, Van has already achieved so much. He was instrumental in getting the Green Jobs Act of 2007 passed, which authorizes $125 million to train workers in green collar jobs. Every day, he’s out their campaigning for the good of the people of America as well as the environment, and he’s not showing any signs of letting up any time soon. People like Van Jones are what gives this country so much hope for the future – the idea that all of us, no matter where we come from and what our socioeconomic status, can take part in a cleaner and healthier world.

Van Jones’ Green Score: 64,982

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