Come Support Seattle Magazine's Earth Day 5K with Sustainable Seattle

When we heard there would be an Earth Day race at the beautiful Myrtle Edwards Park, we just knew we had to get involved.  After learning the proceeds go to restoring our local urban parks and forests, we laced up our Brooks sneakers and ran to help faster than good 'ol Speedy Gonzalez!

Saturday, April 20 the downtown Seattle waterfront park will turn into a big, sweaty green gathering for Seattle Magazine's first ever Earth Day 5K. Sustainable Seattle will be there, in full force, with a passionate group of volunteers that we hope includes Y-O-U!

To support this event, whose proceeds go to Green Seattle Partnership, we're gathering volunteers to take on various tasks during race day.  You can sign up here and view the full list of volunteer positions.

For Earth Day, Environment Washington Helps Washingtonians Plug into Clean Energy

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Earth Day, Environment Washington Helps Washingtonians Plug into Clean Energy

Contact: Kristina Dumas, 206-568-2850 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 206-568-2850 end_of_the_skype_highlighting X 2008, kdumas@environmentwashington.org

WHAT: Environment Washington will announce a campaign highlighting the opportunities for Washingtonians to plug their homes and businesses into clean energy programs. They will release Plug into Clean Energy, a guide designed to help citizens take action to improve the energy performance of their homes through energy conservation and the installation of clean, onsite renewable energy.

Environment Washington will also announce a website designed to help educate residents about the opportunities to shift to clean energy, urging residents to opt into these programs. They will also be conducting a public education campaign this summer, providing Washington residents with information about clean energy and efficiency programs, including ratings for the most energy efficient appliances and cars.

WHO: Kristina Dumas, Field Associate, Environment Washington
Stanley Florek, CEO, Tangerine Power
Daniel Winterbottom, Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington and member of the Northwest Center for Livable Communities

WHEN: Plug into Clean Energy and a release will be available Tuesday, April 19th at 9 am

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Environment Washington is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy group. We work to protect the state’s clean air, clean water, and open spaces.

Staples Urban Environment Challenge, Call for Entries

Sustainable Seattle is coordinating the Seattle regional chapter of the Staples Urban Environment Challenge. The challenge is a competition open to organizations that serve 5th through 9th graders in an environmental educational type of capacity. The following is the website that contains the requirements and rules. For further information contact nathan(at)sustainableseattle.org.

Staples Urban Environment Challenge

Earth Force and Staples Foundation for Learning share a mutual commitment to the environment, education and youth. Both help to inspire a national movement of young people who will become the leaders of their communities and to secure a healthy environmental future.

Our Project – THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT CHALLENGE

Together, Earth Force and Staples will develop the next generation of environmental problem-solvers by engaging urban youth in addressing issues related to climate change. THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT CHALLENGE encourages young people in urban communities to take action on pressing local issues created by global climate change. Entries to the UEC from each region have a chance to win a $1,000 custom technology & supplies package or one of two $500 packages..

Do I qualify?

Criteria for participation in the Staples Urban Environment Challenge:

• Groups of 10 or more young people engaged in youth-led projects, such as service learning, in one of the ten metro areas listed below
• Groups of 5th - 9th grade students from schools where 60% or more of students qualify for free/reduced lunch
• Commitment to completing an action project that addresses issues related to climate change

Already doing service learning on your own or with another partner organization? You're invited to participate! Click on the registration button to let us know you're in!

How It Works

Young people doing service learning in groups of 10 to 30 are invited to address a environmental concern related to global climate change that impacts their urban community and submit their project to the UEC by Earth Day - April 22, 2011. They will work with local businesses, government agencies and climate change experts to develop the understanding they need in order to address the root cause. Through their research contestants will develop a solution to the problem and implement an action plan to improve their community.

Young people will use their project results to develop a written and web based entry into THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT CHALLENGE. Entries will be posted on the internet and Staples employees and other partners will be invited to review the entries and vote for those projects they believe should win each of five regional competitions. One winner in each region will receive a $1,000 technology & supplies package. Two runners up in each region will receive $500 packages.

Earth Day 4/22/2010

On the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day it is important to take a step back and see from where we've come.

Earth Days is a documentary about the history and origin of Earth Day and the environmental movement in general. It was produced by PBS and shown on KCTS as part of their American Experience history program. It is a must watch if your own view of Earth Day is a little rusty, or worse naive.

The foundation of a holiday that many of us take for granted now was not an easy ride. The founders were rife with criticism, attacks and vilification that sounds strangely like some of the more outrageous rhetoric we hear today from climate change deniers and vested interests who still see adjusting to the reality of climate change as a detriment to their economic growth, which we know is not the case in the slightest.

The film talks about the steps they took in order to start a holiday that has seen replication across the planet and the film uses primary sources, interviews with participants and publicly released advertisements or deterrents to make a seamless film that informs and surprises.

Also check out The Story of Stuff below.