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A Walk for Water

Global warming is affecting more countries than ever, and the United States is beginning to see it’s effects more each year. One way is the reduction of water availability, and this group is trying to raise awareness through educating kids as to what it is like trying to get water in other parts of the world..

greg

Press Release: Local Montessori Students “Walk For Water”

LOCAL MONTESSORI STUDENTS “WALK FOR WATER” TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR GRASSROOTS WELL-DIGGING PROJECT IN NIGER, WEST AFRICA

DERWOOD, MD (May 17) —More than 170 students and parents from local Montessori schools will walk around the perimeter of Rock Creek Park’s Lake Frank, in hopes of raising money and awareness for a program which seeks to lessen the marathon journey—which can be a stifling 35 miles roundtrip—that children in the Azawak region of Niger must face each time they and their families need a cup of water to drink.

Sponsored by Honest Tea, My Organic Market and Signs By Tomorrow, the second annual “A Walk for Water” will be held on Saturday, May 17, starting at 10 a.m. Although the walk will be only a fraction of the distance that children in Niger’s desert must journey for water, to the students, who have been learning about the children of the Azawak in their classes, the event will symbolize their solidarity with the Nigerien children.

Each participant will raise funds to benefit Amman Imman, a program which digs borehole wells—reaching depths as far as 3,000 feet below the Earth’s surface—for the people living in the Azawak. Sponsored in part by money raised through the first annual Walk for Water one year ago, Amman Imman built its first well last summer. The well provides water for 25,000 people and their animals. This year’s walk—kicked off in the company of a native from the outskirts of the Azawak—will support Amman Imman’s second well.

“The focus of involving students in “A Walk for Water” is to bring them together in the spirit of collaboration to make a positive change in the world,” said Debra Kahn, associate director of the Oneness Family School, in Chevy Chase, Md. and organizer of the walk. “The Amman Imman project appeals to their natural desire to help humanity and to reach out to children who are just like them, yet have a lot less.”

Extreme poverty coupled with a warming climate has made life in the Azawak increasingly difficult. Currently, the majority of the 500,000 people living in the Azawak have no water for nine months out of the year due to a lengthening draught. During the three months that they do have water, it is brackish, brown and thick with mud, dirtied by the people and animals which bathe in the marshes. With no schools, health centers or roads nearby, the Azawak is largely abandoned by the outside world.

Ariane Kirtley, founder and director of Amman Imman, hopes that by building more wells, Amman Imman will act as an impetus to change all of this. “Until there is a permanent and sustainable flow of water in the region, no organization will come to the Azawak,” she said. “I hope that our work will serve as a catalyst for humanitarian organizations to bring much-needed developmental aid, such as food aid, health care, education and gender equity to the region.”

Participating schools include: The Oneness-Family School, Chevy Chase, Md.; The Barrie School, Silver Spring, Md.; Henson Valley Montessori School, Upper Marlboro, Md.; Aidan Montessori, Washington, D.C.; Boyd School, from multiple locations in Virginia.

Program Amman Imman is a Washington, D.C.-based program, working in partnership with the American non-profit The Friendship Caravan. For more information on Amman Imman’s collaboration with local schools, visit: http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/

News

Free Home Energy Audits in DC

I wanted everyone to be aware of these free energy audits. Several states across the U.S. do them and I’ve heard a lot of success stories. You can’t go wrong with free…

greg

Free Home Energy Audits Available to DC Residents

Washington, DC – With air-conditioning season just around the corner and energy costs on the rise, the District Government is again offering free energy audits to single-family homeowners. The DC Department of the Environment’s Home Energy Rating System (HERS) program identifies a home’s energy deficiencies and provides homeowners with cost-effective, energy improvement recommendations.

“I hope our residents will take advantage of the free audits,” said George Hawkins, Director of the DC Department of the Environment. “We have found that many consumers don’t consider energy conservation because they’re not sure what to do. The HERS program will give homeowners new insight.”

The HERS Program will send a RESNET certified Auditor to evaluate a home’s existing energy condition, including walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, hot water heating, heating and cooling mechanical systems and other related aspects. Once the home audit is complete, a detailed HERS improvement analysis report is provided to the homeowner. Recommendations range from no-cost behavioral changes to major improvements to reduce energy loss in the home.

District residency and DC homeownership are the only program eligibility requirements. To schedule a free HERS audit, interested residents should call Willie Vazquez at 202.671.3304 or LaKeisha Estep at 202.673.6733.

To learn more about the HERS program, visit ddoe.dc.gov.

Tips

Great tips on using the web to reduce your footprint

This link was sent over to me by Derek.  It is a great read, and I thought one of the coolest things was seeing how much solar panels would generate on your house using Virtual Earth.  Some tips I had seen before, and others were brand new to me.

Also, a blatant plug for Derek’s band, Sun Tornado.  July 11th in Baltimore at Metro Gallery.

Enjoy,

greg

Use the Web to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

From Wired How-To Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Given the steady drumbeat of news about climate change, water shortages, food riots and high oil prices, many of us are pretty well-versed in the basics of protecting the environment.

What’s lacking, particularly for us tech-lovers, are the tools to help us live our on-grid, totally Wired lives with the smallest possible impact. And we do need some help. If everyone lived like North Americans, we’d need at least five planets to support our lifestyles.

Here are some online actions you can take to “plug in greener.”

This article is a wiki. Got extra advice? Log in and add it.

iHitchhike

Ride sharing is an effective way of reducing the impact of transportation on the environment, but it comes with two thorny problems: How do you a) find a car going your way and b) make sure that driver isn’t a psycho? The Facebook app, Carpool, or something like it, could eventually be the solution. By using your own social network to search out rides, it allows you to differentiate between your friends and creepy truckers, and if the app can gain some traction — which it hasn’t yet — you could be hitching a ride anywhere with your mouse-button index finger, not your thumb. Or getting paid to provide rides.

Drive the “Network Effect” of Carbon Footprints

Back in July of last year, Clive Thompson wrote, “Imagine if your daily consumption were part of your Facebook page — and broadcast to your friends by RSS feed…. You’d work harder to conserve so you don’t look like a jackass in front of your peers.” Well, that day has come with the Facebook Carbon Minder application. Get it, do your calculations, and start shaming your friends.

Another must-read is Katie Fehrenbacher’s article on earth2tech about the “Network Effect” of carbon footprints.

Calculate Solar-Payback Time for Your Home

Sungevity allows you to get your home fitted for solar panels. Using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth satellite imagery platform, it calculates not just how much power the panels would generate, but also how long it would take you to recoup your initial investment. This image is the app’s workup for the apartment building that I live in here in San Francisco.

Fly Green

Flying to Vegas this weekend? A new calculator from TerraPass and TRX will show you which airline has the lowest carbon emissions for any route in the world.

Stop Your Junk Mail

GreenDimes is a classic win-win. You, as a consumer, get a service that removes you from catalog mailing lists and cuts down on the amount of junk that lands in your mailbox. By making your life better, you also help the environment, because all those catalog are printed on paper, and you can bet most of it isn’t the nice, recycled stuff. The company claims to have stopped 3.5 million pounds of waste already.

Offset Your Blog’s CO2 Emissions

CO2Stats lets you track the carbon dioxide emissions of your website, blog or individual posting. Based on the traffic it receives, the company calculates the carbon footprint of the content and offsets that amount of emissions. They hope to pay for this scheme by selling advertising.

More than 1,000 sites have signed on, and even though the widget’s design is simple, it works, albeit with a fairly minor impact.

Buy Data-Hosting Powered by Renewable Energy

If offsetting the emissions from the traffic to your site isn’t enough for you, try out GreenestHost or AISO and purchase some solar-powered hosting.

Plot an Alternative Route to Work

If you need to get from here to there, walking or riding your bike has a smaller environmental impact than taking a motor vehicle. But if you’re a novice like me, you might not know the best route across your city. That’s where Bikely comes in, a website that allows grizzled bike messengers to let you in on their fastest routes. Then, just send that data to the handlebar-mounted GPS you built, and away you go. l The same goes for taking public transportation instead of dragging your 2,000 pound wheeled metal exoskeleton into the company parking lot. Google Transit tops the list if you’re in an urban environment and want hitch a ride on your city’s people transporters.

Add Your Own Tips Here

We know you’re out there scouring the internet for good tools too, so let us know what sites you find most useful for reducing your impact on the environment.

Ancedotes

A Walk for Water

Global warming is affecting more countries than ever, and the United States is beginning to see it’s effects more each year. One way is the reduction of water availability, and this group is trying to raise awareness through educating kids as to what it is like trying to get water in other parts of the world..

greg

Press Release: Local Montessori Students “Walk For Water”

LOCAL MONTESSORI STUDENTS “WALK FOR WATER” TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR GRASSROOTS WELL-DIGGING PROJECT IN NIGER, WEST AFRICA

DERWOOD, MD (May 17) —More than 170 students and parents from local Montessori schools will walk around the perimeter of Rock Creek Park’s Lake Frank, in hopes of raising money and awareness for a program which seeks to lessen the marathon journey—which can be a stifling 35 miles roundtrip—that children in the Azawak region of Niger must face each time they and their families need a cup of water to drink.

Sponsored by Honest Tea, My Organic Market and Signs By Tomorrow, the second annual “A Walk for Water” will be held on Saturday, May 17, starting at 10 a.m. Although the walk will be only a fraction of the distance that children in Niger’s desert must journey for water, to the students, who have been learning about the children of the Azawak in their classes, the event will symbolize their solidarity with the Nigerien children.

Each participant will raise funds to benefit Amman Imman, a program which digs borehole wells—reaching depths as far as 3,000 feet below the Earth’s surface—for the people living in the Azawak. Sponsored in part by money raised through the first annual Walk for Water one year ago, Amman Imman built its first well last summer. The well provides water for 25,000 people and their animals. This year’s walk—kicked off in the company of a native from the outskirts of the Azawak—will support Amman Imman’s second well.

“The focus of involving students in “A Walk for Water” is to bring them together in the spirit of collaboration to make a positive change in the world,” said Debra Kahn, associate director of the Oneness Family School, in Chevy Chase, Md. and organizer of the walk. “The Amman Imman project appeals to their natural desire to help humanity and to reach out to children who are just like them, yet have a lot less.”

Extreme poverty coupled with a warming climate has made life in the Azawak increasingly difficult. Currently, the majority of the 500,000 people living in the Azawak have no water for nine months out of the year due to a lengthening draught. During the three months that they do have water, it is brackish, brown and thick with mud, dirtied by the people and animals which bathe in the marshes. With no schools, health centers or roads nearby, the Azawak is largely abandoned by the outside world.

Ariane Kirtley, founder and director of Amman Imman, hopes that by building more wells, Amman Imman will act as an impetus to change all of this. “Until there is a permanent and sustainable flow of water in the region, no organization will come to the Azawak,” she said. “I hope that our work will serve as a catalyst for humanitarian organizations to bring much-needed developmental aid, such as food aid, health care, education and gender equity to the region.”

Participating schools include: The Oneness-Family School, Chevy Chase, Md.; The Barrie School, Silver Spring, Md.; Henson Valley Montessori School, Upper Marlboro, Md.; Aidan Montessori, Washington, D.C.; Boyd School, from multiple locations in Virginia.

Program Amman Imman is a Washington, D.C.-based program, working in partnership with the American non-profit The Friendship Caravan. For more information on Amman Imman’s collaboration with local schools, visit: http://montessori-amman-imman-project.blogspot.com/