Recently in Environmental Education Category

Peak Moment Television for Local Self-Reliant Living

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I discovered a documentary about a sustainable living nonprofit in Washington recently, and upon investigation, discovered the production company that is a sustainable story itself.

Yuba Gals Independent Media production partners Robyn Mallgren and Janaia Donaldson have been producing local video programs for community access television since 2002.

In response to awakened Peak Oil awareness, Yuba Gals began producing the weekly 28-minute Peak Moment Conversations.In January 2006.

Since April 2006 the duo taken have videotaped over 100 Peak Moment Conversations on location in 27 communities between Santa Barbara and Vancouver, B.C.

The Yuba Gals live in rural Nevada City and their business is named for the nearby South Yuba River, a part of the Wild and Scenic river system in California. They live on 160 acres of forest land, in a 1500 square-foot off-grid home using about 10% of the electricity of the average American home (including home office). Their home is heated by a wood stove using deadfall wood from their property. Propane heats the cookstove, on-demand water heater and backup generator (needed only during gray-day periods in winter). Not yet energy independent, but moving in that direction!


Contact:

Peak Moment Television
15504 Lone Bobcat Way, Nevada City, CA 95959
530-265-4244
info-at-peakmoment.tv
www.peakmoment.tv/


Video Gaming Trends...and Marketing

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Gaming is rapidly becoming the phenomenon equal to the explosion of the Internet on the communications scene. If you're not familiar with the role of gaming in today's business, advertising and public discourse, you might want to click your way through this overview of today's gaming world. Gaming is strategy. Gaming is revenue...in the making for a wide swath of the business marketing and communications sectors.

Sustainable Brands Conference, Dec 9-11, Miami Beach

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December 9-11, 2008

Join Andrew Winston, co-author of the critically acclaimed "Green to Gold," for a summit of leading innovators who are leveraging sustainability to drive new operating efficiencies, reduce risks and costs, and build stronger ties to shareholders, employees and the communities in which they work.

Welcome to Sustainable Brands International!

Over 100 sustainable brand leaders are already registered and 300 are expected to convene at Sustainable Brands International, December 9-11, 2008 in Miami Beach, FL.

What is Sustainable Brands International (SBi)?

At SBi you'll find the antidote to negative world news. A place where change makers gather to share their latest learning and ideas about how to create new business value in today's rapidly changing landscape.

SBi convenes a dynamic mix of big global brands and innovative start ups. Of product designers, sustainability thought leaders and brand communications experts. This mash up people from different market sectors, geographic regions, company sizes and business responsibilities creates one high energy, thought provoking, personally challenging experience that past participants say goes down as among their best conference experiences ever. Its no wonder that past speakers become the first to return as registrants to the next event.

www.sustainablebrandsinternational.com


Planet Green Launches June 11, 2008

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Discovery Studios Develops original content for Planet Green and other Discovery media

Discovery Studios

Discovery Studios is the recently-created division of Discovery Communications charged with developing and producing original series, specials, theatrical documentaries and short form content for Discovery’s television networks.

Veteran television executive Nancy Daniels has been named Vice President of Development and Production for Discovery Studios. Based in Burbank, Calif., Daniels will oversee all West Coast production and development activities for Discovery Studios. Projects now under her supervision include programs for TLC, Travel Channel, Planet Green, Discovery Health Channel and others.

About Discovery Studios

Discovery Studios is devoted to the creation of original television series and specials, theatrical films and short-form content within Discovery Communications, the number-one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries.

Through TV and digital media, Discovery's 100-plus worldwide networks include Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, The Science Channel, Discovery Health and Discovery HD Theater. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Co. (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery's founder and chairman. For more information about Discovery Communciations visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

For more information about Planet Green visit planetgreen.discovery.com

For more information about SUBMISSIONS visit submissions.discovery.com

Discovery is introducing Planet Green, a cable brand promoted as the first 24-hour channel dedicated to eco-friendly living. The 24-hour eco-oriented lifestyle network will launch with 50 million cable homes. It is the highest-profile cable channel introduction of the year, and an equally risky one. By wrapping itself in the planet, Discovery is betting that “eco-tainment” will appeal to viewers.

The channel’s programming is studded with celebrities such as

  • Chef Emeril Lagasse hosting a cooking show featuring organic and locally grown foods, and "Entourage" star Adrian Grenier living a green life.
  • "Greensburg," a 13-episode documentary series, follows the story of a small Kansas community coming together after being hit by a 5-rated tornado in May 2007. The series is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, along with Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films & Television.
  • "Hollywood Green," a weekly entertainment magazine, will showcase earth-conscious celebrities.
  • "G Word," a daily series hosted by two news correspondents
  • "Wrecklamation," billed as recycling on steroids.

The channel has almost all original programming — partly because there was not an available vault of entertaining environmental programming to tap into. Part of their challenge has been educating the production community that may have had certain expectations of what green content is.

Planet Green's Target Audiences

Planet Green will speak to people who want to understand green living and to those who truly want to make a difference by providing tools and information to meet the critical challenge of protecting our environment. Planet Green's platforms include leading eco-lifestyle website TreeHugger.com and the recently launched solutions-oriented PlanetGreen.com.

Discovery is also launching Discovery Education Green, a K-12 service that hosts dynamic media content correlated to state standards. Discovery Education Green will help teachers integrate Green lessons into their curriculum and empowers students to make more environmentally conscious decisions.


Planet Green's Promotion

Timed to the switch from Discovery Home to Planet Green, Discovery marketers are conducting “Random Acts of Greenness.” At the Indianapolis 500 last month, they handed out T-shirts and beach balls to consumers who exemplified green living, and sponsored the cleanup day after the race. The giveaways will continue in New York, Milwaukee; Washington; and San Diego, San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.

On launch day, Wednesday, June 11, 2008. Mr. Zaslav will throw out the first pitch in Washington, and the stadium’s JumboTron will count down to the channel’s 6 p.m. debut. Also that day, all the Discovery cable networks will show green logos.

The New York Post is going green on Wednesday, too: the newspaper will turn its flag green that day and feature advertisements for the channel all week. The newspaper will also give away 250 bicycles with Planet Green branding.

“This is a new genre,” Ms. O’Neill said. “People don’t have any set expectations of what green media is, and we’re defining it — as really funny, engaging, entertaining and definitely credible.”

Planet Green: planetgreen.discovery.com

Discovery Studios: www.discoverystudios.com

MARYLAND
1 Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: +1 (240) 662-2000

LOS ANGELES
2600 West Olive Avenue
5th Floor
Burbank, CA 91505
Tel: +1 (818) 333-5255

Recycled paper represents less than 5% of the entire market for printing and writing paper.
Historically, its higher price had prevented widespread use.


Reducing is the number one way to conserve our natural resources...and our way of life.  One easy way to reduce your use of trees and the great amounts of water that papermaking uses... is to change the kind of paper you buy and use.  Use higher percentage RECYCLED paper! 

Because of cost issues with recycled paper and seeing the need to help improve usage of recycled content paper, the Recycled Products Cooperative was created in 1999 with two goals in mind:

(1) To leverage purchasing power of members to reduce pricing, and
(2) To educate buyers on the importance of using recycled paper and other products.

The Co-op is committed to bringing about transformations within the marketplace which conserve trees and other natural resources.

The Cooperative was originally one of numerous creative and progressive programs under the umbrella of the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation. The Solana Center is a non-profit organization based in Encinitas, California. For 25 years the Solana Center has been a leader in addressing and finding creative solutions to many of the environmental challenges both locally and globally. To find out more about the Solana Center and its other programs, visit www.solanacenter.org. Last year the RPC spun off on its own and is now a for profit corporation. Although we have changed our tax status our guiding principals are still based on saving environmental resources.

Another informative resource is...

Environmental Paper Network --  a resource for purchasers, environmental organizations, industry, and individuals. The Environmental Paper Network is a diverse group of environmental organizations joined together to support socially and environmentally sustainable transformations within the pulp and paper industry.  The Network developed the Common Vision as a framework to guide necessary shifts in production and consumption.


The Green Press Initiative is to help those in the book and newspaper industries better understand their impacts on endangered forests, indigenous communities, and the Earth's climate. GPI also works with those in the industry to implement solutions, and to provide the tools and resources necessary to support industry transformation.
 



Trends in Information & Reference Publishing

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Online publishing is growing at a phenomenal rate.  That has upsides and downsides for everyone involved.  Whether you are a creator of information, publisher, educator or end user of information, changing distribution means changing access, availability and costs.

The segments of REFERENCE hit hardest by the increasing availability of information online are the core staples of reference.

Multi-volume encyclopedias, such as Encyclopedia Americana,  have largely seen their day.

Online distribution and volumen also are changing players: Wikipedia dwarfs its competition. The English-language Wikipedia surpassed 2.3 million entries last month; Britannica Online claims 120,000 articles.

The National Geographic Society reports that cartography is another category hit hard by the Internet. Maps and pocket atlases have been severely hurt. But big atlases haven't been dramatically affected in the same way.

Online dictionaries and thesauruses are displacing print predecessors.

Some observers believe that online upstarts can't compete with the depth, context and authority that traditional publishers can offer.

“Wikipedia, or any free information resources, challenge reference publishers to be better than free,” says Random House's Russell. “It isn't enough for a publisher to simply provide information, we have to add value. Yes, you can find free information anywhere online, but reference publishers still have plenty to add to the conversation.”

“Some things Wikipedia doesn't do. It's not a 'how to'; it doesn't offer judgment. By and large, it can't have image-heavy articles. It's an overview,” he explains.

Recently questions have bubbled up from the L.A. Times and others about whether an operation the size of Wikipedia as a nonprofit with no advertising can sustain itself mainly on donations. For the moment, though, it remains just that.

“Wikipedia has no interest in keeping people on the site. It has no need to be sticky,” Broughton says, referencing the fact that Wikipedia often functions as a gateway to other sources of information—such as newspapers—in the form of the citations used to document articles. “To the extent that publishers commit resources to content online, a link may actually drive users there. There is a synergy with some traditional media in that way.”

The Solution?

Traditonal publishers are increasingly promoting their reference efforts online and incorporating multimedia elements.

For National Geographic, that can mean elaborate online book trailers for upcoming titles, showcasing the beautiful photographs and video the brand is famous for.

Editorial synthesis is also adding value to traditional publishing.
Reference books that actively add context and commentary, like offerings from Barron's that provide ranked lists in various categories, are continuing to be strong sellers.

SOURCE:  Publishers Weekly






Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP) and NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), two of the nation’s leading media companies, today announced the second in a series of findings from the Meredith/NBC Universal “What do Women Want?”™ survey.


The  findings from the nationwide survey conducted among more than 3,000 women reveal key insights on the female psyche across topics including health and well-being:

When it comes to health, women are more concerned about
diet/weight (56%) and eating right (36%)
than they are about
cancer (23%), cardiovascular/heart health (20%), and diabetes (18%)

  • Many women are skipping important medical examinations, including annual physicals and cancer screenings
  • Less than two-thirds (59%) of all women get an annual physical, even lower among Gen Y women (44%).
  • Nearly one-third of Boomer women are not getting their important annual mammograms, cholesterol checks or physicals.
  • 62% of women regularly give themselves a breast self-examination, while only 14% of all women get a skin cancer screening at least once a year.

Four in 10 women report that they are more than 20 pounds overweight

  • Gen Y women are more likely than Gen X and Boomer women to say they are at their ideal weight (29% vs. 9%, 7% respectively).
  • Relatively few (4%) overweight women say they would consider surgery as a weight reduction strategy; a substantial number say they would consider exercise (76%) and improving their diet (75%) to lose weight.

Still, when it comes to achieving a healthy lifestyle, more women opt for simple strategies like “drinking more water” and “eating more fruits and vegetables” than more disciplined approaches like “exercising three times a week”, “lowering calorie intake”, “watching their sugar intake” and “using portion control”

  • Not surprisingly, women are sensitive about their own weight, with 4 in 10 (40%) who say it’s wrong for a man to tell a woman that she’s overweight
  • However, relatively fewer women think it’s wrong for a woman to tell a man he’s overweight (32%) or a parent to tell a child he or she is overweight (26%).

Most women think the battle of the bulge starts at the schools at an early age; the majority of moms claim that while their child(ren) eat junk food, it’s “not when I’m around”


Top 10 Health Concerns (across all generations)

1. Diet/weight control (56%)
2. Eating well/nutrition (36%)
3. Allergies (27%)
4. Aging process (26%)
5. Mental health (25%)
6. Arthritis (24%)
7. Cancer (23%)
8. Cardiovascular/heart health (20%)
9. Diabetes (18%)
10. Menopause (18%)


Medical check-ups:

  • Less than two-thirds (59%) of all women get an annual physical, while more than two-thirds get an annual blood pressure check-up (67%) and visit the dentist at least once a year (66%).
  • Only 44% of Gen Y women get an annual physical, compared to 69% of Baby Boomer women.
  • 62% of women regularly give themselves a breast self-examination, while only 14% of all women get a skin cancer screening at least once a year.
  • Nearly one-third of Boomer women are not getting their important annual mammograms, cholesterol checks or physicals.

Non-traditional approaches to health & wellness:
To improve health and well-being, some women have taken the following non-traditional approaches: natural herbs and supplements (26%), bought/adopted a pet (25%), meditation (11%), acupuncture (4%), visited a hypnotist (1%).

What Women Want: To Look and Feel Good

Dissatisfaction with physical appearance/energy levels:
While most women like who they are inside and are satisfied with their “identity and development as an individual” (68%), only 4 in 10 women say they are satisfied with their physical appearance (40%) and/or energy levels (37%).

Professionals Women Would Want to Hire*

1. Personal Trainer (47%)
2. Personal Chef (34%)
3. Financial Advisor (31%)
4. Live-In Housekeeper (31%)
5. Professional Masseuse (29%)
6. Nutritionist (28%)
7. Professional Organizer to de-clutter your living space or office (24%)
8. Stylist (19%)
9. Interior Decorator (15%)
10. Career Counselor (13%)

*allowed up to 5 choices

Women’s Lifestyles:
Most women don’t want to work too hard to achieve a healthy lifestyle, opting for simple solutions like drinking more water or eating more fruits and vegetables over the more disciplined approaches like exercising regularly, counting calories, and using portion control (see chart below)

What Women Do to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle*

    • Drink more water (80%)
    • Eat more fruits and vegetables (70%)Read nutritional labels (49%)
    • Avoid foods that are high in fat (47%)
    • Make a conscious effort to lower calorie intake (44%)
    • Watch my sugar intake (44%)
    • Exercise at least three times a week (43%)

• Women with children are especially likely to say that “it is difficult for me to find time to take care of my physical appearance” (28% vs. 22% total women).


Overweight Women:

  • The vast majority of American women (84%) feel they are overweight.
  • 13% of women feel that they are the ideal weight, while 23% feel they are 21-50 pounds overweight and 16% report being more than 50 pounds overweight.
  • Older women are more likely than younger women to report they are overweight and to join weight management programs
  • More Gen Y women (29%) feel they are the ideal weight, compared to Gen X women (9%) and Baby Boomer women (7%).
  • Gen X women (22%) and Baby Boomer women (20%) are more likely to get involved in weight management programs to improve their health and well-being than Gen Y women (14%).
  • On the other hand, Gen Y women (24%) are more likely to do yoga or Pilates to improve their health and well-being than their Gen X (18%) and Boomer (8%) counterparts.

Among women who feel they are overweight, exercise (76%) and improving diet (75%) are the top two strategies for weight reduction, while taking medications and/or dietary supplements (17%) and undergoing surgery (4%) are less popular methods.

"It is particularly important for marketers in the health and wellness category to have a clear understanding of women's behaviors, motivations and thoughts so that the messaging they create will resonate and have enhanced impact," said Debbie Reichig, Senior Vice President, Market Development, NBC Universal. “We are thrilled to be able to make this information available to them.”

READ MORE
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is launching new consolidated Web sites in Vietnamese and Korean as part of its ongoing effort to provide environmental information in Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese, in addition to English.

These new sites compile EPA multilingual publications and materials in Korean and Vietnamese on a variety of environmental issues such as children?s health, indoor air quality in nail salons and dry cleaners, asthma, fish consumption, proper pesticide usage, among others.

These sites also serve as valuable tools in delivering important health and environmental information to the Vietnamese and Korean communities in the United States and worldwide. This initiative promotes environmental protection in local communities as well as the global environment regardless of language.

The launch of these Web sites coincides with the celebration in the United States of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month during May. According to the U.S. Census, over 14.9 million U.S. residents trace their roots to Asian countries.

Visit EPA's multilingual Web sites at:
http://www.epa.gov/vietnamese/
http://www.epa.gov/korean/
http://www.epa.gov/chinese/
http://www.epa.gov/chinese/simple/
http://www.epa.gov/espanol/

The award-winning show was based on Common Vision's  DVD "Planting the Vision." The special episode of "Natural Heroes" aired on PBS across the nation. This award is a huge tribute to programs like Natural Heroes and the featured groups that are working for positive change. We hope many more people will see the show and be inspired to plant a tree in their community!

Watch a 6-minute trailer for the DVD "Planting the Vision" below.

> Watch the Natural Heroes Fruit Tree Tour Promo on the Natural Heroes site

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