In the past week I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie Hinton, Chief of the Magnolia Springs Fire Department. Jamie is one of the many examples of people who translate their awareness into action. Awareness is only the first step in committing to making changes that will help protect our planet.

Click here to read the my blog about Jamie and the Gulf Oil Spill on TreeHugger

With election day tomorrow comes a lot of responsibility for the new president and the citizens of the United States. There will be many issues that need to be addressed immediately and we don’t want environment to be swept under the rug. Our oceans are bearing the burden of our lifestyles and we must do something to ensure they are taken better care of, that our government is actively pursuing measures to protect and restore these valuable ecosystems. Below is an article about The Ocean Foundation’s blueprint to protect our coasts and oceans.

Coalition of 48 leading conservation organizations calls on the next administration to protect U.S. coasts and oceans

Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation and Sierra Club among groups urging for strong coast and ocean protection during the next U.S. presidential administration

(October 22, 2008 - Washington, D.C.) Our coasts and oceans face a multitude of threats. Human activities have harmed the health of species and habitats in every corner of the vast ocean, from Arctic fisheries to tropical reef systems, from kelp forests to tidal estuaries. From climate change to pollution, to overfishing and habitat destruction, the threats also imperil the health of coastal communities and tens of thousands of jobs in fishing, recreation, and tourism that depend on healthy, functioning coastal and ocean systems.

In response to this dire need and recognizing the link between a healthy environment and a healthy economy, a broad coalition of conservation and research organizations has asked each presidential candidate to prioritize strong, effective coast and ocean conservation measures during the next presidential term.

Forty-eight organizations from 15 states and territories across the U.S joined in sending ‘A Blueprint for Coastal and Ocean Policy for the New Administration’ to each presidential campaign, urging decisive action on behalf of our oceans. The coalition includes organizations such as Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club, Reef Check Foundation, Fauna & Flora International, NAUI and PADI Worldwide, Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Save the Manatee Club, and EarthEcho International.

“The ocean touches everyone and everything. It is essential to life and human survival,” said Mark J. Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation, which provided the original draft and organized the coalition. “The next Administration has a fantastic opportunity to start a new wave for coastal and ocean protection, a new wave that we will support.”

A Blueprint for Coast and Ocean Policy asks for action on the following ten marine conservation issues: (1) reducing coastal and ocean pollution; (2) clean and healthy coasts and beaches; (4) improving the health of our nation’s fisheries; (4) protecting coral reef ecosystems; (5) protection of other important marine species; (6) marine ecosystem restoration; (7) addressing the links between oceans and climate change; (8) resolving conflicts between healthy oceans and energy production; (9) underwater noise pollution; and (10) ocean governance.

Supplemental information:

Link to The Ocean Foundation web page: www.oceanfdn.org

To download a copy of Blueprint, visit: http://www.oceanfdn.org/index.php?tg=articles&topics=32

Lately I’ve been writing blogs from all over the world, but one of the things I’m most excited about happened pretty close to home. Last summer, my sister Alexandra and I filmed an interstitial for Curious George’s Sea Monkey episode at the Eco-Discovery Center at Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It’s finally airing on PBS beginning this Monday, April 21st. Be sure to tune in to Curious George’s first underwater episode. More information from PBS below.

You’ve all heard of the Atkins diet, and the Miami Beach diet, but have you heard of the latest diet craze in green circles? It’s the “low carbon” diet and many of you are probably “dieting” without knowing it. If you’ve been reading this blog and others on how to “green” your lifestyle, and have been making changes to be green (or greener), then you’re on your way.
Why is this important? Because we (I’m referring to Americans right now, though really, it’s humans in general) are the biggest polluters on a per capita basis. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration states that the average American emits about 35,000 to 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. This includes home, work and recreational habits, as well as the products we consume.

So, how can we decrease our footprint? Here are some interesting facts, following on the heels of the last blog (Did you know?), but this time focusing solely on the action and carbon emissions generated by that action. As always, there are many sources available, and though the numbers may differ somewhat, this should give you an idea of the impact:

* Amount of carbon dioxide that is saved” or not released in the air.
I’m sure you’ve heard of carbon calculators, and I’ve covered them in a previous blog as well. A couple of others are the EPA and Live Earth ones—take a look and see which you prefer given the amount of information you have (some require you to have detailed information about monthly energy used, etc…). Happy dieting!

This week’s blog will be a little different than the rest, to keep you (and myself) entertained. Here are some things that you may or may not have known about the environment—ok, some of them are fun but some of them are scary. What did you expect??

1. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
2. During the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50,000 12-ounce aluminum cans are made.
3. An aluminum can may be recycled ad infinitum (forever!).
4. We consume over 80 trillion aluminum cans every year.
5. The world’s tallest tree is a coast redwood in California, measuring more than 360 feet or 110 meters.
6. The world’s oldest trees are 4,600 year old Bristlecone pines in the USA.
7. Every day, American businesses generate enough paper to circle the earth 20 times!
8. Each year, Americans throw away 25 trillion Styrofoam cups.
9. Only 1% of the world’s water supply is usable, 97% are the oceans and 2% is frozen (for now).
10. Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots (just checking that you’re still paying attention!).
11. Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees (I’m guessing it’s about the same for more major papers’ Sunday editions).
12. On average, ONE supermarket goes through 60,500,000 paper bags per year!
13. An automatic dishwasher uses less hot water than doing dishes by hand—an average of six gallons less per cycle, or over 2,000 gallons per year.
14. The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
15. Every time you open the refrigerator door, up to 30 percent of the cold air can escape.
16. Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour, most of which are thrown away!
17. Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.
18. A modern glass bottle takes 4000 years or more to decompose.
19. About one-third of an average landfill is made up of packaging material.
20. The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world’s people generate 40% of the world’s waste. We toss out two billion plastic razors, a million and a half tons of paper towels, and 12 billion disposable diapers annually.
21. More than 20,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. All that foil is recyclable (guilty…now I know)!!
22. Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.
23. If you walk a mile along an average US highway, you will see, on average about 1,457 pieces of litter (yuck!).
24. Consumer Reports tested disposable mops and found that they can cost $115+ a year, compared with $50 for a traditional sponge mop with replacement heads and cleanser (so get rid of that Swiffer!).
25. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV (ok, now you can go take a nap).

These facts were taken from various sites, too numerous to list, but the figures kept popping up pretty consistently. Feel free to add any other eco-facts that you’ve come across.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog. I’m currently filming in the Mediterranean, but just had a chance to get online to take a look at Anca’s Novacovici’s latest Act Natural blog on the EarthEcho site, since she’s going to be appearing on WUSA9 news on Monday morning to talk about alternatives to conventional products, such as household cleaners and lightbulbs. For those of you who haven’t been reading her blog (we are watching you, we know who you are), Anca is president of Eco-Coach Inc., an organization that provides consulting services and tools to individuals and organizations interested in making a positive environmental and social impact. She’s been doing some excellent work and reaping fantastic publicity, such as a plug on Sprig.com (oh, yeah, and while you’re there, you can check out my video).

At EarthEcho, we love promoting the good work of our friends and love celebrating with them when good things happen—especially with champagne made from organically-grown grapes, of course. We hope those of you in the DC metro area will share in the celebration by tuning into Anca’s WUSA9 debut on Monday morning between 9am and 10am. And for those of you non-DC locals, keep the champagne nearby, because this girl is going places—soon.

If you’re like me, and others in the US right now, you’re hearing about how to be green from your morning anchor person, the sign at your supermarket, and your dry cleaner. So who should you listen to and how can you figure out which sources are the most accurate? Well, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that there are a lot of valid sources; the bad news is, well, the same. Below, I’ve picked out and described a few of the major resource sites. I’ve tried to keep the list short, so as not to be overwhelming, but there really are a lot of great sites out there!

Which conventional product is the most eco-friendly?

• Environmental Working Group: Their consumer tools section provides information on which regular products are safe to use. This ranges from cosmetics to vegetables and fish.
• Greener Choices: Hosted by Consumer Reports, this site rates appliances, cars, and electronics, among others.
• Lite Green: International site that rates different mainstream products, ranging from H&M clothing to Coca-Cola.

Which green product should I buy?

• EcoLabels: Consumer Union’s guide to environmental labels. You can search by label, logo, or certifier.
• SustainLane: Directory of green products and businesses rated by the user community.
• FiveLimes: Canadian site for green products, rated by users.
• Pristine Planet: Offers comparison-shopping capabilities for green products with coupons and product reviews.

Where can I get general info on green lifestyle?

• Treehugger (of course!): Aims to be a one-stop “shop for green news, solutions, and product information.”
• Hugg: User-submitted news stories related to all aspects of the environment. Get bite-sized info and decide whether you want to read more and rate it (kind of like Digg).
• RiverWired: Compiles news from about 200 sites and categorizes them—lots of info!

Now it’s your turn to look through these resources and figure out which you like best. Also, feel free to tell us your favorites so we can add them to the list!