Go Green Radio

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) provides knowledge to trusted professionals who, with their credibility, amplify messages to national audiences to solve everyday environmental problems. NEEF has a program for students called Planet Connect (www.planet-connect.org), which is giving out grants to high school students to perform local projects to protect wildlife. They are also...

Otis Rolley has already made history. At 29, Rolley was the youngest director of a large city-planning department in America. He shepherded the city's first Comprehensive Master Plan ever adopted by both the Baltimore Planning Commission and City Council. And now, he's attempting a new historical first – to become the Mayor of Baltimore in his initial run for political office. With a background in...

Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) is not messing around when they ask people not to litter in the Lone Star state! In 2010, more than 840 litter cleanup events were held across the state, featuring more than 74,100 volunteers. All told, 6,219 miles of highway were cleared of litter and debris, totaling a little more than eight million pounds of trash! But that's only one of many outstanding programs run...

The generation of Americans that will soon be called upon to address some of humanity's greatest environmental challenges—those currently in our schools—have a limited understanding of environmental issues, our civic system and/or how to develop and implement balanced solutions to natural resource challenges. The problem is not a shortage of environmental information. There is plenty of informatio...

Charles Orgbon is one of those kids who makes you think, "I should probably get his autograph now. He's going to be famous someday." At 15 years old, Charles is the President and CEO of Greening Forward (www.greeningforward.org), and not only is his organization growing their membership, they are hiring! Greening Forward has entered the Pepsi Refresh Project contest to win $50,000 so they can host...

Keith Weitz, manager of the Sustainability and Environmental Assessment program at RTI International, will join us for a follow-on discussion regarding technologies that convert waste to clean, renewable energy. The technology has been around for decades, but in recent years, it has been improved and highly regulated by the EPA and regional air emissions agencies. Countries around the world have b...

A lot of products we use everyday come in containers made of #5 plastic – margarine, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. The problem is that many communities don't collect #5 plastic for recycling, because they lack a purchaser who will buy that material for another use. Too many of these containers are ending up in landfills, but there IS a solution! A company called Preserve makes products...

A lot of ideologues in the environmental activist community would like to see the U.S. become a "zero waste" society, where nothing is thrown away. It's a great goal, but realistically, it is unlikely to come to fruition anytime soon. Even in cities with high recycling rates like San Francisco, there is so much waste that they have to truck it to rural communities in California, leaving a carbon f...

Most people know that when they throw things away, it doesn't really go "away." The trash goes somewhere, and a good deal of it doesn't biodegrade. In fact, some of what goes into the trash could poison our drinking water, air, and the soil in which we grow food for many generations. Mercury and other heavy metals are found in a number of products readily available to consumers in supermarkets all...

What do you do with expired medicine in your medicine cabinet? How do you dispose of pharmaceuticals you no longer need? If you're like most Americans, you've been told to flush them, wash them down the sink, or throw them in the trash. But recent studies show that our unwanted drugs are ending up in our fresh water supplies, and it doesn't take a doctor or scientist to know that it isn't healthy...

Trees for the Future (TFTF) –www.treesforthefuture.org- is a nonprofit organization that was around long before "going green" was cool. Since their inception in 1988, they have planted 65 million trees in strategic locations around the world. They train local farmers to plant, care for, and sustainably utilize trees. Among their many success stories, TFTF was responsible for the reforestation of a...

Everywhere we turn, there is another news story about carbon emissions and efforts to reduce them. But for the average town, small business, school, home or individual, reducing carbon emissions is a bit of a mystery. How do we know how much carbon we are emitting? Where can we cut carbon from our operations? Is there a way to offset the carbon that we cannot reduce? Until recently, answering thes...

Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) is not messing around when they ask people not to litter in the Lone Star state! In 2010, more than 840 litter cleanup events were held across the state, featuring more than 74,100 volunteers. All told, 6,219 miles of highway were cleared of litter and debris, totaling a little more than eight million pounds of trash! But that's only one of many outstanding programs run...

A lot of products we use everyday come in containers made of #5 plastic – margarine, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. The problem is that many communities don't collect #5 plastic for recycling, because they lack a purchaser who will buy that material for another use. Too many of these containers are ending up in landfills, but there IS a solution! A company called Preserve makes products...

Today we are joined by New York City's "Guru" of urban gardening, Gerard Lordahl, who serves as the Director of the Open Space Greening Program for GrowNYC (www.grownyc.org). GrowNYC is a nonprofit organization that has existed in partnership with the Mayor's office for four decades, and improves New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by blo...

The generation of Americans that will soon be called upon to address some of humanity's greatest environmental challenges—those currently in our schools—have a limited understanding of environmental issues, our civic system and/or how to develop and implement balanced solutions to natural resource challenges. The problem is not a shortage of environmental information. There is plenty of informatio...

You can call California a bellwether state for environmental policies, or you can be accurate… and call it the rock star state for bold environmental movements. In 2006, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB32 into law, which aimed to curb greenhouse gas emissions and move toward a clean energy economy. It gained worldwide attention as one of the first large economic forces in the wo...

Though tap water in the United States is much cleaner than in many other countries, it is not perfectly healthy. Recent studies have shown that rivers throughout the U.S. are contaminated with pharmaceuticals, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that our children shouldn't be drinking water with medicine in it. Many families have turned to bottled water, assuming it is safe, but in fact...

Recon Recycling is a disabled veteran owned small business located in the Barrio Logan community of San Diego. Recon believes in applying the principles of sustainability, economic development, and social equity to their business practices. Richard McCaskill started the company three years ago with no capital, learning the basics of recycling from the homeless and utilizing guerrilla military tact...

Everywhere we turn, there is another news story about carbon emissions and efforts to reduce them. But for the average town, small business, school, home or individual, reducing carbon emissions is a bit of a mystery. How do we know how much carbon we are emitting? Where can we cut carbon from our operations? Is there a way to offset the carbon that we cannot reduce? Until recently, answering thes...

Though tap water in the United States is much cleaner than in many other countries, it is not perfectly healthy. Recent studies have shown that rivers throughout the U.S. are contaminated with pharmaceuticals, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that our children shouldn't be drinking water with medicine in it. Many families have turned to bottled water, assuming it is safe, but in fact...

Give them the tools, the training, and a mission – these Veterans have what it takes to help America transition to a green, clean economy. On today's episode of Go Green Radio, we'll talk with Garrett Reppenhagen, former sniper in the Army's 1st Infantry Division stationed in Iraq, and now the head of the Veterans Green Corps, overseeing teams of Veterans who are working outdoors to clean up wetla...

On this week's Go Green Radio, Michael Kraft, Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, will discuss his recent OpEd entitled, "Republicans must embrace clean energy for their future." During the midterm elections, most political observers expect unemployment rates and the war to dominate the airwaves, but how is the electrification of American light transportation related...

Ever tasted an apple grown in the Big Apple? If not, talk to this week's guest, Marcel Van Ooyen, the Executive Director of GrowNYC – formerly the Council on the Environment of New York City. The NYC Greenmarket is the largest and most successful open-air farmers markets program in the country. Since 1970, this organization has been improving New York City's quality of life through environmental p...

Trees for the Future (TFTF) –www.treesforthefuture.org- is a nonprofit organization that was around long before "going green" was cool. Since their inception in 1988, they have planted 65 million trees in strategic locations around the world. They train local farmers to plant, care for, and sustainably utilize trees. Among their many success stories, TFTF was responsible for the reforestation of a...