A Bright Idea Goes Dark

I am turning off my computer at 8 p.m. local time and you should to! Why? Today marks the start of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour, created by the Worldwild Life Fund (WWF) in Sydney, Australia, is an opportunity for all of us to take action, influence others and start a wave of change that alters the course of climate change. From 8 to 9 p.m. local time on March 29, 2008, people across the world are encouraged to turn off their lights for just one hour—Earth Hour—to show it's possible to have an impact on climate change.

I am doing it at home and at the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery where we practice Earth Day Every Day! For more information about Earth Hour, go to www.earthhour.org.

Catching The Rays

This week, we want to send a special thanks to all the spring campers at the the Coachella Valley Recreation & Parks District who helped us reuse and recycle more than 250 CDs! More than 5.5 million boxes of software go to landfills and incinerators annually. Plus, people throw away millions of music CDs and DVDs every year. These obsolete CDs were turned into sun catchers. The S.C.R.A.P. Gallery went to camp sites from Mecca to Thousand Palms and worked with kids who were eager to recycle in a creative way!

LOOK! MIRA! GUARDA! REGARD!
It’s recycled and renewed! Please check out the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery's updated site! It has information about all our programs, what we are working on and how you can get involved in taking care of our environment!
www.scrapgallery.org

Get Green For Spring

We are having a great weather here in the desert! Spring is on its way! It is a perfect time to get outdoors with your friends! Here I am with my friend and S.C.R.A.P. Gallery Board member, Donna Pease. We are discussing the daily benefits of recycling with Recycle Binney from the City of Palm Desert.

Want to do something every day for the environment! Join us at www.earthmonthcoachellavalley.org!

Going Green On St. Patrick's Day

Top of the mornin' to you! Really, could there be a better a day to be green?

You can eat green and if you want you can even drink green and I don't mean beer! There is an array of "green" and organic products at your market. Organically grown and produced means that the ingredients have been grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and the like. The Organic Trade Association conducted a survey with consumers that shows sales of organic wines and beer are rising at the same rate as organic food. At my house, there will be no green beer, but we do like to sample "green" wine. One of my husband Mitch's favorites is Grgich Hills. I like Bonterra Chardonnay which is from Mendocino County. Other wines to try are from Frey Vineyard, Frogs Leap Vineyards or check out Ceago Vinegarden, created by Jim Fetzer, of Fetzer Winery fame.

Looking for a less potent choice? There is always Welch's! Have a great green day and remember to practice The Four R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Responsibility!

All Roads Will Lead To Mecca

Fifth

graders from Mecca Elementary visited the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery today to start work on an exciting artistic and environmental adventure for the new library in Mecca, California. Under the direction of Artist Jennifer Johnson, these students will be creating five mosaic panels which tell the folk story of Princess Hapunda, the princess of Yunuen Island, located amidst the beautiful Lake Patzcuaro in Mexico.

After a tour of the Gallery and hearing the tale of Hapunda, the students began work by learning how to cut mosaic tiles. Next week, they will actually begin the creation of the panels. Following completion, during the month of April, the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery will visit Mecca School to work on a book of new Hapunda-inspired tales to accompany the panels and be presented to the Mecca Library collection.

Special thanks today to Mr. Hernandez, teacher extraordinaire at Mecca, Maestra Jennifer Johnson and volunteer Joanne Johnsen.

Nothing To Sneer About

It is not cool to be hot! Three conservation groups are suing the Department of the Interior for
missing a deadline on a decision to list the polar bear as threatened because of the loss of Arctic sea ice, according to The Associated Press. The Natural Resources Council, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace seeks a court order compelling the Bush administration to issue the final decision on polar bear protection immediately.

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and summer sea ice in Alaska alone, shrunk to about 1.65 million square miles, its lowest level in 38 years of record keeping. Polar bears depend on sea ice for hunting, giving birth and how about just plain living! Listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act guarantees federal agencies will be obligated to ensure that any action they authorize will not jeopardize the polar bear's continued existence or modify their habitat!

Want to learn more about the real threat to polar bears? Want to learn more about global warming? And yes, it's real! Go to http://www.nrdc.org/ or http://www.greenpeace.org/ or try http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/. You see, all of us, even the polar bears, are connected!

Tour de Trash - Recycle Bicycles

Wheels are spinning all over the desert in anticipation of the "Tour de Trash - Recycle Bicycles" exhibition sponsored by the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery! This exhibition is an environmental art experience inviting kids, artists and local residents to take something old and make something new! Recycling, of course! More than 30 non-functioning bikes have been turned into inspired works of art! The first unveiling of the bikes will be at the Indian Wells Arts Festival, April 4-6 in Indian Wells, CA. Then the bikes will tour the California cities of Cathedral City, Idyllwild, Indio and Palm Desert! If your wheels are spinning and you want more information, contact me at karen@scrapgallery.org or www.earthmonthcoachellavalley.org.

Green Style

Welcome to my blog where I will share current green projects that I am working on. It's getting greener everyday, in more ways than one, and I look forward to a great spring, a great Earth Month (let's expand on that later) and a great world!