In Ireland for the Summer

Sorry posts have been so sparse. I'm in Ireland on an internship with the National Museum this summer!

More green posts will be on the way but for the moment I would like to recommend Sheridan's off Grafton Street. They make the best brownies in the world and some amazing wholesome sandwhiches minus preservatives and all the other crap you find in your typical take-away Spar sandwhich.

Check them out sometime!
http://www.sheridanscheesemongers.com/

Mother Nature Network

The weather on the East Coast has been rather insane lately. I swear we have had more storms in the past two weeks than we had all last summer. As much as I love storms, I always worry about the baby birds and animals when the weather's like this.

With my time off killing brain cells in front of the computer and TV while it pours outside, I've stumbled across an amazing new site courtesy of a Nature Conservancy email: Mother Nature Network.

I'm astounded by how clear and simple and yet utterly amazing their site layout is. Everything is neatly organized and their graphics draw the eye without overpowering it. I also like how they cover the green news in pretty much every category -- all clearly labeled as well.

The top green news story for today is the daily briefing: Speaker Pelosi and the Climate Bill. With the economy as it is, many companies are looking toward greener ventures to help appeal to the public and to help pull themselves out of this mess. It is interesting to see which companies (or even agencies) are many a concerted effort and which are just throwing a bit of green at the general public to hide otherwise unliked practices.

Do check the site out. It's well worth a visit. 

Now when are we going to have a green music genre? (If we already do, please let me know!)

End of the School Year

Both Maryland Day and Earth Day were a success (check out our Facebook Group-- UMD Office of Sustainability -- for pictures!). 

And now the school year is almost over with just over a week left before finals. Where did the time go? 

My last project as a Web and Communications intern here is to create a user friendly online sustainability guide. Which is proving harder than it sounds. My idea is to formulate a portion of the website to be similar to the Ikea website (it's the only comparison I could think of). Basically, I have an image of a typical student room on campus (hand drawn and sharpied but colored on the computer) that I would like to rollover and see a blurb about each sustainable practice I could do. For example, I could rollover the fridge and see a short blurb on why a fridge is better than a fridge and freezer combo. Does anyone have any ideas on how to accomplish this?

Currently, I'm just using a hodgepodge of codes and image cuts.

So, with the school year almost over, what are peoples plans for the summer? 

High school and College students are lucky to get the summer off. We now have the opportunity to pursue certain goals that school may interfere with. Another internship perhaps? Summer is also an amazing time because it encourages people to be outside. I mean, who would want to stay inside on a beautiful sunny summer day? If we could take that summer mentality and apply it to the rest of the year, we'd have less issues with people stuck at computer desks or in front of the TV.

Whatever you do this summer-- whether it's an internship, volunteer work, whatever -- make sure you spend some time outdoors!

PS: There are some amazing green websites out there. Soon I will be making a list of what I feel are the top green websites. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Leading Up to Earth Day

With Earth Day just around the corner (next Wednesday!), we at the University of Maryland are scrambling to be ready. Unfortunately for us, Earth Day almost inevitably falls within the same week as Maryland Day (by far our largest event of the year). Therefore, Maryland Day receives all the attention and funding that Earth Day lacks.

We've all been putting in hard work and I certainly hope this Earth Day turns out magnificently (I'm a big believer in jinxes so I can only hope). Earth Day at Maryland is open to everyone, students and general public alike, but, because it falls during the day in the middle of the week, pretty much only students attend. 

Not that that's a bad thing.

These students are (again hopefully) the leaders of tomorrow. If we can't change their minds, however are we going to change the world?

Earth Day began in April, 1970 and has gradually become a nationally celebrated important event. As long as I have been at Maryland, we have hosted some sort of Earth Day celebration. This year's theme is "Earth to College Park". The Office of Sustainability will be administering carbon footprint quizzes for on and off campus residents (there's a chance to win a solar backpack or a free organic T-shirt!), providing temporary logo tattoos for those who want them (don't worry, I'll be sporting one), and giving you the chance to reach your hand in the mystery bag and discuss the environment.

So even if you don't attend our Earth Day, go out and do something!

Celebrate your right to be outdoors.

"Police arrest more than 100 in dawn raids to halt environmental protest"

News Article Courtesy of the Guardian

"More than 100 people were arrested in a dawn raid today over an alleged attack being planned on a coal-fired power station."

In my opinion, this pre-dawn raid is still part of the fallout surrounding the G20 Summit and the riots in London that occured while it was being held. The Summit was held on March 28th amongst scores of rioters from multiple organisations, many of whom were part of the "Put People First" campaign.

The coal-fired power plant in question was the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire, England. Apparently, this station has been attacked by environmental activists before, according to the Wikipedia Article. The website for the power station states that it is committed to protecting the environment by reducing emmissions, reducing waste, and planting native species.

Personally, I am a little unnerved by this development. It seems to me that police and government fear is still lingering and could result in rash actions against anyone who poses a threat. No where in the article does it state how they knew the protest would not be peaceful. If one person was going to physically attack the building but the rest were simply to picket, does that automatically make it an attack? Should those 99 others be arrested?

Here is another article on the raid, courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Spring is here with Earth Month!

April marks "Earth to College Park" Earth Month here at the University of Maryland. All this month student groups and departments play host to green productions and seminars. On April 22nd is Earth Day (go out and enjoy the fact that this is the one planet we have found to support flourishing life) and April 25th is Maryland Day, our biggest event of the year.

I am looking forward to both! But, as an intern at the Office of Sustainability, boy has life been busy lately. Yet, I have had the opportunity to discover so many local green organizations I had never heard of before (such as "Brand of the Free" and Bethesda Green). Truly, April is a wonderful month.

As long as the weather holds.

This weekend has been absolutely beautiful! And I have spent almost every wonderful minute of it enjoying the outdoors: from hiking along the Potomac (and seeing bald eagles!) to simply walking the cats in my backyard. We're currently in that brief period where the days reach 70*F but there aren't any mosquitoes out yet. A truly magical time.

And everything is growing. Our blackberries have new shoots, our strawberries are growing back, and the deer are eating our tulip bulbs (which have remarkably grown back but may not flower).

So, to all I say: "Happy growing season!" and enjoy your April outdoors.

Wolves

Video by Defenders of Wildlife



It's outrageous how many wolves are being slaughtered in the U.S.! I was a part of the Anti-Palin wolf slaughter videos and I'm against this now. Just because wolves finally have enough numbers to not be on the endangered species list does not give us the right to put them right back on that list!

Frankly, it's depressing and makes me sad for society. But, then again, I'm against the hunting of any animal unless you plan to eat or use every single morsel of said animal. Hunting for pleasure is wrong.

I also believe it is the reason so many animal species are on the endangered species list in the first place.

This video is graphic, but it makes its point well. We need to listen.