Go Green Radio

‘Locally grown’…’organic’…’free range’…we’re beginning to see a lot of “buzz words” that are being used to distinguish food choices. We have some sense that these words mean food is healthy, humanely produced, or environmentally preferable, but how can we be sure? Today we’ll be joined by Dr. Carolie Sly of the Center for Ecoliteracy who served as the project leader for a book called, “Big Ideas,” which provides a foundation for understanding – and teaching children – about food and food production. The book is designed to help people use this knowledge to understand the ecology of the natural world and humans’ connections to it. Dr. Sly will discuss how food, culture, health and the environment are intricately woven together; and how all of us can make the best possible food choices.

Two primary concerns have inhibited the success of the electric car: the cost of the vehicles are higher than comparably-sized gasoline cars; and the mileage range of a typical car battery is much shorter than the range of a gasoline tank. For lengthy trips, that would mean having to stop every 150 miles or so, finding a place to plug the car in, and waiting several hours for it to power up. A new company called Better Place has the solution to both of these problems, and may be the “enabler” that finally brings electric vehicles into the mainstream!

Landscaping is an important part of any structure or space. Whether we’re at home, at school, at work, or commuting, a well-designed landscape provides beauty and enjoyment, and in some cases, a habitat for birds and other wildlife. However, some landscape designs are much too reliant on copious amounts of water. Landscape architect, Josiah Cain, was featured in the June 2009 edition of Sunset magazine (link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/ldsjj5 ), and he joins us on Go Green Radio to discuss ways to create appealing gardens without wasting water. More and more areas of the U.S. are instituting water restrictions, so tune in to learn how to maintain your landscape while minimizing your impact on our precious natural resources. To learn more about Josiah and his firm, Design Ecology, visit www.designecology.com).

We hear a lot about ‘sustainable living’ these days, but too often it’s in the midst of a sales pitch to buy certain products that will help us “go green.” Fortunately, there are organizations out there that are teaching kids and schools the real lessons of a sustainable lifestyle. On today’s show, I’m pleased to be joined by Lisa Bennett, the communications director for the Center for Ecoliteracy, www.ecoliteracy.org. Her esteemed colleagues are working to create resources and hands-on services that teach kids, parents and educators the building blocks of creating communities that will thrive as they find balance between human needs and the environment’s ability to meet those needs.

When they signed up to be interns for the world’s largest environmental education program, they probably didn’t think it would land them in jail, but that is exactly what happened! On today’s Go Green Radio, we’ll talk to two interns for the Go Green Initiative (ww.gogreeninitiative.org) who got to see how the Alameda County jail in Dublin, CA has taken tremendous strides to “green” its operations, all at incredible savings to local taxpayers. Lauren Ivey, an undergraduate in architecture at Princeton, and Katie Buck, a senior at Amador Valley High School, will tell us about their field trip behind bars!

Are pizza boxes and microwave popcorn poisoning my kids???The answers can be found in Jennifer Taggart’s new book, “Smart Mama’s Green Guide”, a candid and credible resource for child advocates who want to reduce children’s exposure to toxic chemicals. You may be surprised to learn that products you use everyday in your home contain chemicals capable of causing health problems for your kids. Jennifer’s background as an environmental engineer and lawyer, coupled with her passionate devotion to her own – and all – kids, provide the perfect background for her expert advice. You can learn more about the Smart Mama at www.thesmartmama.com !

Get ready to dance! When you hear the song, “Stand Up,” you won’t be able to sit still! Benjamin Winn has created a ‘green groove’ with lyrics every parent will support…and every kid will dig. Go Green Radio host, Jill Buck, met Benjamin at Harrah’s in Las Vegas recently, and on today’s episode you’ll hear why she supports the song, the artist, and the positive message he’s bringing to the world.

Everything is BIG in Texas, including big ideas for 21st Century Urban Planning and Green job creation! Dallas,TX recently offered up one city block, inviting architects and urban planners from around the world to compete to re-design the space into the United State’s first fully sustainable, “off the grid” inner-city block. Today we have John Greenan of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, and representatives from two of the winning architectural firms: Little Architects, and David Banker and Partners with their respective entries, Entangled Bank and Greenways Xero Energy. We’ll be talking to them about this exciting and innovative green project involving the transformation of urban landscape into an energy efficient, sustainable community.

I’m a big fan of companies that ‘go green’ on site. I’m an even BIGGER fan of companies that work with their suppliers, customers and every business in between to ensure that their whole supply chain is going green. Today, we’ll have two women in business who are in very different industries, but share one important thing in common: a desire to make sure that the products they buy, sell and discard are handled in an environmentally responsible way. We’ll talk with up and comer, Celeste Ayers, of Parker Hannifin Corporation, and Amy Chan, owner of A&M Printing. Each will share her unique experience in striving for sustainability.

The Chairman of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, Margo Reid Brown, joins us this week on Go Green Radio! She leads the CIWMB towards statewide goals that will improve waste diversion and the environment. As a member of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Climate Action Team, Chairman Brown has been at the vortex of some of the most aggressive and accomplished environmental public policy making in history. Just this week, President Obama signed off on legislation to increase fuel efficiency standards in the U.S. That legislation began with Governor Schwarzenegger and his team. Listen to Go Green Radio to hear about exciting, cutting-edge environmental action plans coming out of California!

Bob Anderson is not just the father of two teenagers, he is the father of a brand new national TV show called Eco Company, set to air across the U.S. this fall. The show’s website http://www.eco-company.tv has videos that Bob has produced, as well as an opportunity for teens to submit videos they shoot with their friends. The show aims to “create awareness, break down the issues in plain English, and profile teens leading the way to be green. Teens have joined the green revolution and this show is all about what they are doing!”

“The child starting kindergarten this fall will graduate in the third decade of the 21st century. All we can know about the world she will step into is that it will have challenges and opportunities beyond what we can imagine today, problems and possibilities that will de¬mand creativity and ingenuity, responsibility and compassion. Whether this year’s kindergarten student will merely survive or positively thrive in the decades to come depends in large measure on the experiences she has in school.” That’s the opening salvo in an exciting new book called, “The Third Teacher” (www.thethirdteacher.com). Listen to Trung Le explain how schools can, and should, be ecologically designed to prepare our children for the future.

Today’s episode is another Twitter success story for Go Green Radio. Derek Gordon is an intern for a super cool project called Urban Re:Vision. Derek found me on Twitter, and yada, yada, yada…I’m interviewing one of the premiere green architects in the biz, Eric Corey Freed. Eric is based in San Francisco, and has founded more entities than I’ve got fingers to count them. His company, organicARCHITECT, creates sustainable structures, from large developments to single family dwellings. With more than 15 years in green design, Eric can tell us what it was like to be green even before there was a Nobel Peace Prize in the mix! Don’t miss this interview with award-winning architect, Eric Corey Freed!

The U.S. Green Building Council has recently launched a new program that sets standards for certifying a residential unit as “green,” and today we’ll be talking with one of the industry leaders who developed those standards: Peter Yost. Peter serves as an instructor for the Boston Architectural College's Sustainable Design Certificate program and an adjunct faculty member of the University of Massachusetts Department of Building Materials and Wood Technology program in Amherst. He has been building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high performance homes for more than twenty years, and will share his insight with Go Green Radio listeners!

On today’s episode we’ll be joined by Emmy award-winning producer, Virginia Carter, who is known for her work on the immensely popular American situation comedies All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, The Facts of Life, and Diff’rent Strokes. She began her career as an aerospace physicist, became a showbiz icon, and is now doing pro bono work with the Population Media Center (PMC) www.populationmedia.org. Virginia joins Go Green Radio to explain the important success of PMC, and how their efforts will improve environmental conditions around the globe.

Assemblyman Chuck Devore from Irvine, California has become one of the nation’s leading advocates for lifting the moratorium on building new nuclear power plants. He’s been featured on numerous TV and radio shows, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle and many more publications. As America moves to limit our carbon emissions to the greatest extent possible, can we do so without nuclear energy? Or is nuclear our only viable, domestic energy option for a clean, green future?

Think about your favorite ABC Afterschool special, and chances are, today’s guest on Go Green Radio either wrote it or produced it. Virginia Carter began her career as a physicist in the aerospace industry and in the Air Force. But thanks to a serendipitous friendship with the wife of Norman Lear, Virginia has become an incredible force for good and social change through media. She was awarded an Emmy and two Peabody Awards for her work on the immensely popular American situation comedies All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, The Facts of Life, and Diff’rent Strokes. She assisted in the production of the top five most highly rated television shows in the United States during the 1980s. Virginia now does pro bono work for Population Media Center, which aims to improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

This week’s episode will feature up-to-the-minute Green News with your “Dean of Green” – Jill Buck! We’ll be talking about my interview with Alexandra Cousteau while she was in Istanbul for U.N. World Water Day, and much more. We’ll also talk with John Davies of www.GreenerBuildings.com and Nammy Patel of www.ToothHugger.com.

Many in the U.S. are trying very hard to ‘go green’, and they are using less gasoline, changing their light bulbs to CFL’s, and recycling. Even with all of these efforts, if we multiply the amount of energy used per person in the U.S. by the world’s total population…we’d have a problem…not enough energy to go around. We live well in the U.S., so it’s understandable that people in other countries would want to live as well, but is there enough energy in the world for everyone to live like Americans? Do we have a shortage of energy, or an energy management problem? My guest, Susan Meredith, author of “Beyond Light Bulbs: Lighting the Way to Smarter Energy Management” will help us uncover the truth.

Today’s episode is another Twitter success story for Go Green Radio. Derek Gordon is an intern for a super cool project called Urban Re:Vision. Derek found me on Twitter, and yada, yada, yada…I’m interviewing one of the premiere green architects in the biz, Eric Corey Freed. Eric is based in San Francisco, and has founded more entities than I’ve got fingers to count them. His company, organicARCHITECT, creates sustainable structures, from large developments to single family dwellings. With more than 15 years in green design, Eric can tell us what it was like to be green even before there was a Nobel Peace Prize in the mix! Don’t miss this interview with award-winning architect, Eric Corey Freed!