News & Updates

 

4/14/08

(Reposted from http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/tow/825 )

1) Replace five incandescent lightbulbs in your home with compact fluorescents: Swapping those 75-watt incandescents with 19-watt CFLs can cut 275 pounds of CO2.
 

2) Instead of short haul flights of 500 miles or so, take the train and bypass 310 pounds of CO2.
 

3) Sure it may be hot, but get a fan, set your thermostat to 75 degrees and blow away 363 pounds of CO2.
 

4) Replace refrigerators more than 10 years old with today's more energy-efficient Energy Star models and save more than 500 pounds of CO2.
 

5) Shave your eight-minute shower to five minutes for a savings of 513 pounds.
 

6) Caulk, weatherstrip and insulate your home. If you rely on natural gas heating, you'll stop 639 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere (472 pounds for electric heating). And this summer, you'll save 226 pounds from AC use.
 

7) Whenever possible, dry your clothes on a line outside or a rack indoors. If you air dry half your loads, you'll dispense with 723 pounds of CO2.
 

8) Trim down on the red meat. Since it takes more fossil fuels to produce red meat than fish, eggs and poultry, switching to these foods will slim your CO2 emissions by 950 pounds.
 

9) Leave the car at home and take public transportation to work. Taking the average U.S. commute of twelve miles by light rail will leave you 1,366 pounds of CO2 lighter than driving. The standard, diesel-powered city bus can save 804 pounds, while heavy rail subway users save 288.
 

10) Finally, support the creation of wind, solar and other renewable energy facilities by choosing green power if offered by your utility. To find a green power program in your state, call your local utility or visit U.S. Department of Energy's Green Power Markets page. See also our Green Power Utilities Product Report.

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This item reposted from the Green Guide, http://www.thegreenguide.com/blog/tow/825, which is sponsored by National Geographic.  

4/09/08

3/01/08

Reading opens the door to all kinds of new worlds for kids -- worlds of imagination, worlds of wonder, and worlds of opportunity.  But how can we help them to love books and become great readers?  Check out this new Earth's Kids special section to learn more.

2/28/08

April 13th-19th, 2008, is the Week of the Young Child.  This year's theme is "Bring Communities Together for Children—Children Bring Communities Together" -- a theme Earth's Kids is understandably excited about! 

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)  encourages you to start planning your WOYC 2008 events now!  See their website for information about planning and ideas for WOYC events.  Also, because are such a passionate and creative buncy, they invite you to please feel free to share your ideaswith them online.

Remember, great promotional resources for Week of the Young Child can help get people in your community excited about WOYC.   After all, people can't  participate in something they don't know about.   So the NAEYC has new materials with the 2008 theme, including posters and kites, to help you build awareness of your events. Order these and other materials through the NAEYC web site by March 21st to ensure you receive your shipment on time.

Also, the NAEYC has developed a free communications kit that you can use to promote WOYC. The communications kit includes:

• Week of the Young Child News Release

• Invitation to television stations to cover event

• PSA Script

• Letter to the Editor

• Proclamation for the Governor or Mayor

• Business Flyer Template

• Participant Flyer Template 

For your own editable copy of the WOYC Communications Kit and for more information, please see their website.

Tell the Candidates to Help Poor People Adapt to Climate Change.

2/28/08

During the presidential primaries, the candidates have all discussed how they will tackle climate change. Unfortunately no one is talking about those most affected by climate change-poor people in the US and in developing countries.  We are desperately concerned about the impact this development will have on the world's children.  What will become of them when their parents haven't the resources to remove them from areas at highest risk from the consequences of global warming?

Climate change is happening right now. Developing countries, which have played little to no role in this crisis, are suffering the consequences of global warming right now-more intense storms, flooding, droughts, crop failures, water shortages, and disease outbreaks. They need help from the next president of the US, and that's where we need your help. 

The next president needs to re-engage with international climate negotiations, help fund developing countries' efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and commit the US to a pollution reduction that limits warming to a level that science says we can and must achieve and shifts fossil fuel subsidies to clean energy solutions. 

Poor people around the world are suffering from the dramatic effects of climate change right now. We need strong leadership from our next president to make sure we do our part in helping them adapt to their changing climate.

Tell the candidates to help poor people adapt to climate change.
 

We at Earth's Kids join with Oxfam in thanking you for standing up for poor people around the world.   Click the link below to learn more about Oxfam, the sponsors of this petition.