
Earth Day is coming, and with it, hours and hours of “green” television programming and print media coverage. People who hardly give the environment a thought all year will be “Green Watching” programs – and advertisements – about how to be more environmentally responsible. In the past, I always thought of this heightened awareness as a good thing. The added programming draws broader......read more
With the Earth Day launch of B-cycle, Denver, Colorado adds itself to the growing list of U.S. cities taking bike sharing for a ride. Touted as the country's first citywide bike share program, B-cycle opens with 500 bikes and 50 stations dotted around the city. A collaboration between Humana Insurance, Trek Bicycle, and ad house Cripsin Porter + Bogusky, B-cycle adds a green alternative to......read more
On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Actress Sigourney Weaver testified before the Senate, warning that without climate legislation limiting CO2 emissions, the impacts on our oceans will be monumental. “The oceans are 30 percent more acidic than they were during pre-industrial times and if we continue burning fossil fuels as we are now, we will double the ocean’s acidity by the end of the......read more
Environmental advocates and allies have achieved plenty since the first Earth Day forty years ago: the creation of the EPA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, are just a few of the legislative highlights that come to mind. But, as John Kerry warned today, the U.S. has yet to confront the biggest environmental problem of today: climate change. In......read more
SHFT compadre and Honey Brothers member Ari Gold (no not the Entourage one) just sent over this moving bit of video based on an idea that came to him in a dream. While sleeping, Ari's unconscious mind offered up the idea of combining the harmonious pop of Beach Boys with the classical avant-garde of Philip Glass. Inspiration in hand, Ari mashed up the 1962 Beach Boys ballad "The Lonely Sea" with......read more
Another year, another Earth Day. Yay. Not to be cynical, but the annual celebration of eco-awareness doesn't mean a lot to the converted. Since its humble beginnings (PDF) as a grassroots educational movement, the annual celebration has become more of a media and marketing opportunity than anything else. Like Valentine's Day. That's fine. We're part of it too. It's nice that the Earth has its......read more
Last week a group of cyclists dumped 13 gallons of paint on the road at Berlin’s busy Rosenthaler Platz, creating a series of colourful lines as cars drove through.The various colours of paint were dumped onto the road in large puddles at different locations throughout the intersection. As traffic drove through, the paint was spread around creating lots of colourful lines. The whole action took......read more
Jim Denevan is an modern day renaissance man. Famous for his mega-sized land art works, the Californian artist is also an accomplished chef whose traveling Outstanding in the Field project connects people with local ingredients and producers. Denevan's art is all about nature's ephemeral moments. “For me, marking the earth is an opportunity to measure and consider what is directly at hand......read more
As we approach the second round of the UN climate talks, Bill McKibben and 350.org are putting on what may be the world's biggest art exhibition, ever. With many works viewable from space, the campaign urges world leaders to reduce acceptable carbon emissions from 388 t0 350 parts per million — scientists' safe target for stabilizing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. So far, pledges made......read more
The term "environmental art" is a bit misleading, in that it encompasses all sorts of artistic interventions in nature, whether the works are "good" for the environment or not. Many of the most famous environmental artworks were made using heavy machinery, causing permanent changes to landscapes in the name of art. Daniel McCormick is an eco-artist in the truest sense. For over twenty-five......read more