sundance

Solar Sister: Electric lighting sold by “Avon Ladies”

Heat and lighting are necessary elements for survival beyond bare-bones subsistence; in the developing world, however, these two necessities require a lot of labor for fuel sources that threaten the health of people who use them, as well as the planet. Women spend hours each week collecting wood for cooking, and lights, where available, are almost always powered by kerosene. Various social enterprises have worked to tackle the first issue with clean cookstoves; others are now stepping in to address the need for clean lighting with a variety of solar-powered technologies.

Green tech finds: Cool tech, cold tech

Just because we’re all trying to stay warm right now doesn’t mean that some techies aren’t thinking about cold – or at least cool. From climate-friendly freezers to arguments for space heating, we’ve got what’s cool – and what’s cold.

Keystone XL: 24 hours, 800,000 voices

Image credit: chesepeakeclimate

The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline was dealt a big blow in the 24 hours during which you asked your friends, family and neighbors to weigh in on it.  In 24 hours, 800,000 of us raised our voices on this matter and yesterday all of your letters – that’s right, all of them – were hand delivered to Capitol Hill.

No fast food toys for DOCTOR SEUSS’ THE LORAX

A big-budget kid film almost always means a partnership with a fast food giant, and plastic toys stuffed in kids’ meals, right? Not in the case of the upcoming DOCTOR SEUSS’ THE LORAX. Given the source work’s environmentalist theme, Universal Pictures decided that such promotional practices might come off as kind of crass.

Show some love to the Gulf this week

It’s Valentine’s Day, and even if you think its an overhyped “holiday” designed to get you spending money on cards, flowers, and candy, you’re probably not going to ignore it – could get lonely otherwise! The organizations that contribute to the Restore the Mississippi River Delta campaign hope you’ll share a little love with the Gulf of Mexico, also: while the BP Oil Spill seems eons ago, February may be the month in which BP settles with the Justice Department on fines related to the spill, and the numbers could top $20 billion. Without specific legislation, though, that money could be swallowed up by the federal budget, with little or none of it going to restore and support the states damaged by the months-long spill.

24 hours to stop the pipeline – be the solution

Every once in a while an opportunity comes along for all of us to be the solution. This is one of those times. We’re collecting a half million messages to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in the next 24 hours.

This dirty, dangerous tar sands pipeline is not in the national interest. It’s that simple. And the United States Senate, officials of both parties, need to hear that message loud and clear and fast because some of them are threatening to push a bill as soon as Tuesday, to approve it.