Year of the Forest, Mass Extinctions, Living Plastic Free – It’s a wRAP, January 28th, 2011

Did you know that the United Nations has designated 2011 as the Year of the Forest? Officially called Forest 2011 – With the theme “Forest for People” – countries and organizations all over the world will use a wide range of programs and events to bring attention to the importance of forests. The UN officially “launched” the program this week at UN Headquarters in NYC. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): “Forests protect our watersheds and conserve our soil. They help combat climate change by absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon, provide food, building materials and medicine, and are home to 80% of the world’s biodiversity.” Talk to the kids in your life, see if you can come up with your own family or community plan to celebrate our forests. Let us know!

In the News this week we take a look at a story from an old “friend” Raffi, as well as what the New York Times has to say about mass species extinctions. In our Video Peek of the Week we showcase the film “Climate Refugees” which was the talk of the recent Sundance film festival. Another one of our new “favorite” documentaries, Gasland, also recognized at Sundance, was nominated this week for an Oscar. We’ll talk “fracking” next week, stay tuned!

We wanted to let you in on our newest campaign and ask you to “jump on board” with us on this one. We have signed up with Rodale.com as a participant in their Plastic Free Challenge. Climate Mama has the kids on board, and we plan to bring you regular updates, starting February 7th, on our personal trials and tribulations of living in NJ, plastic free! Stay tuned, as the program begins next week on Rodale.com. Plastic has become ubiquitous in our society. It is a symptom and a byproduct of not only our throw away, consumption based economy, but also our demand and expectation for convenience. As our land fills fill up, and our use of single use plastics continues to increase, the role of plastics in our lives, and plastics role as a contributor to global warming, needs to be closely examined. Join us on our adventure, as we look closely at how intertwined plastics have become in our daily lives. We plan to get everyone involved, including the family dog, so stay tuned! Join us. Share with us how plastic has become an integral part of your day to day living, and how your life might change if you went “without!”