As our children head off to school and college and we try to “equip” them with the latest and greatest back to school finds, be sure to check in first with our friends at Climate Counts. The Climate Counts “Back 2 Cool” campaign is following Back-to-School ads of some of the largest companies in the USA, all of which are targeting us and our kids during this back to school “season.” Let’s make sure that we are making informed choices and supporting companies that not only say they are doing more for the environment, but are actually doing more! FYI, last year, these companies together had revenues of over $1.2 trillion!
A Treehugger report this week looks at Anna Bullus’ answer to the 150 million British pounds spent each year on the clean up of over 3.5 billion pieces of chewing gum that annually litter London’s sidewalks! Ms. Bullus has come up with a way to reuse the chewing gum and reconstitute it as a rubber or plastic that can be made into a wide variety of products. Not only is natural rubber production being impacted by a changing climate but most plastics are derived from fossil fuels. So, if we can reuse and recycle our chewing gum into useful carbon neutral products, why stop there…any other interesting finds that you can share on what some other great minds have recycled?!
Be on the look out for our new line up of exciting and inspiring Climate Mamas and
Papas, coming to you this fall, including our September Climate Mama, Professor “Diz” Glithero, Arctic and Antarctic traveler, and founder of the EYES Project (Education, Youth, Environment and Sustainability). Did you sign our petition on Climate Change Education and the Mountain Pine Beetle in our National Parks? Please take a moment and add your name and your “voice”, as we try to encourage more people to make the connection between their actions and climate change.
Credit: Zero Emissions Race
Our Video Peek of the Week looks at some of the gas guzzling automobiles that are with us “no longer!” Watch Planet 100’s “Top 5 Gas Guzzlers” with the kids in your life! On the opposite end of the spectrum, tell your kids about the 5 teams from 4 continents who set out last week on the Zero Race – an emissions free 80 day ’round the world race. Follow the Zero Race daily blog…who are you cheering for?
