The Cove Screening

What:  Movie showing of THE COVE!
When:  Thursday 3/25 at 7pm
Where:  Pound 107


Join us to see The Cove, an amazing movie and the 2010 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary.  It is produced by the same people that have been all over the news for their sting operation that led to the closing of the restaurant "The Hump" for selling endangered whale meat.  See article here.   

Snacks will be served!  More info can be found on the SALDF website. 


Brought to you by the Student Animal League Defense Fund.

From Blue to Green

Recycle Your Denim at Gap and Save 30%!


From now until March 14, turn in your old worn-out denim clothing at participating Gap locations and receive 30% off a new pair of jeans!  


Gap is partnering with Cotton Inc. to recycle denim donations into cotton fiber insulation ("UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation"), which is used to build housing in low-income communities.    


According to the company website, "UltraTouch™ is composed of 85% recycled cotton fibers and is an environmentally safe, non-itch insulation without carcinogenic warnings, formaldehyde or chemical irritants. It provides exceptional thermal performance and acoustically provides 30% better sound absorption than traditional fiberglass insulation. In addition, it is one of the only insulating products that contain an active mold/mildew inhibitor."  


More information on this project can be found here.

Image from http://jenniferstuartdesign.blogspot.com/

Harvard Green Video Competition

Like making videos? Care about the environment? Want to win $700?

*Submit to the Harvard Green Video Competition!*

Harvard’s Office for Sustainability is sponsoring a competition for short video clips highlighting how individual actions can help reduce environmental impacts at Harvard, and they want you to submit!! First prize wins $700 and second wins $300—plus both videos will be publicly screened at Harvard’s first-ever Green Carpet Awards ceremony taking place later this spring (exact date TBD) honoring environmental work on campus.

The goal of the project is to educate and inspire students to make changes on campus through humor, creativity and powerful messaging. Read below for more details and rules of the competition, and definitely check out of any following recommended videos for inspiration. Deadline to submit is Thursday, April 15. Please contact us at sustainability@harvard.edu with any questions about the competition.

More information is also available on our website at www.green.harvard.edu/greencarpet
*Movies—now not just in color, in GREEN!*

Need some inspiration?
Resource Efficiency Program’s GreenTube Competition
Phillips Academy Rap
Proper Education
Bottle Dance

Black Balloons

and for animation:
The Story of Stuff

350.org’s ‘Because the world needs to know’

Global Community Wombat Video

Judging

The panel of judges will consist of Harvard staff and faculty and will base its decisions on the following criteria:

• Creativity
• Inspiration
• Strength of environmental message
• Humor
• Quality of production
• Harvard focus 

Rules

• Videos should be no more than 3 minutes in length (and we encourage short and high quality over length)
• Videos must be available in digital format and submitters must allow the Office for Sustainability to post video on OFS website
• Submission will take place through a Harvard OFS YouTube account: http://www.youtube.com/group/HarvardOFS (instructions onwww.green.harvard.edu/greencarpet)
• Team and individual videos are allowed
• Videos must be the original work of the applicants
• Any factual claims or references to research must be credited
• If a submission involves two or more applicants, the award will be divided equally among them.
• Videos must not have received extensive funding from non-profits, government agencies, or private companies.

Stop the Waste Pizza Party!

Help Create a Better Bottle Bill

Did you know that right now in Massachusetts, more than ONE BILLION bottles a year end up in our landfills, littered or incinerated? That’s enough to fill Fenway Park! 

The Better Bottle Bill Coalition needs your help on an urgent campaign in Massachusetts to pass the Updated Bottle Bill this spring that would dramatically increase recycling rates of bottled water.  
Please join us for a free pizza information session to find out how you can be part of this important campaign.
When: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 from 6:30 - 7:30 pm
Where: Harvard Kennedy School of Government79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA
Room: Taubman Building, Room 301(Courtyard entrance, 3rd floor. Enter campus from Eliot St.)

This spring, the Massachusetts State legislature will vote on a Bottle Bill Update that, if passed, will dramatically increase recycling ratesby including water bottles and other non-carbonated drinks in the 5 cent deposit system. Under the current bottle bill only carbonated drinks are covered by a deposit. So, while 80% of carbonated drinks are recycled, the recycle rate for water bottles is less than 25%. Without the deposit incentive, a billion bottles a year end up as waste.

Although this much-needed update has overwhelming support, powerful beverage companies and distribution lobbies are working behind-the-scenes to block the bill from passing this spring. But the Better Bottle Bill Coalition, a group of concerned students at Harvard and beyond, is fighting back. Please join us as we work with MASSPIRG, Sierra Club and MassRecycle to pass the bill and stop the waste!

This is your chance to gain firsthand knowledge of the state legislative process and to make a lasting contribution to our community. We are hoping to mobilize a large group of organizers and also fill several leadership positions. This is a dynamic campaign with room to accommodate many levels of commitment – small or large, you can make a difference!

Please join us next Wednesday for some delicious pizza to find out more.http://blip.tv/file/2796139
http://www.massbottlebill.org/ubb/index.htm

Natural Gas: Fueling America's Clean Energy Future?

The Future of Energy: Aubrey K. McClendon - Chesapeake Energy 


Join the Environmental Law Review in attending the natural gas segment of "The Future of Energy" series to ask some hard questions about the benefits of natural gas.  Chesapeake Energy is is currently engaged in developing natural gas via a new technique called hydraulic fracturing.  As many of you know, there are serious environmental problems associated with hydraulic fracturing.  Learn more about it by reading this ProPublica article (McClendon is actually quoted in that article advocating for increased transparency).  


If you are interested in joining ELS at this event, please send Rachel an e-mail at revans@jd10.law.harvard.edu.  Students will meet up on the Langdell steps at 4:45 next Wednesday to head over together.

Here is the event info:


February 24, 2010 - 5:00pm
Harvard University Science Center Lecture Hall D One Oxford Street Cambridge, MA
"Natural Gas: Fueling America's Clean Energy Future"

New drilling and completion technologies have allowed the U.S. natural gas and oil industry to develop resources in shale reservoirs that were previously considered uneconomic. Shale gas has quickly transformed the industry and provided consumers with reliable sources of supply and the ability to reshape the nation's energy policy. Natural gas is clean, affordable, and abundant. It is the most practical answer to our nation's growing need for clean energy and reduced dependence on foreign oil.


Aubrey K. McClendon has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since co-founding Chesapeake Energy in 1989. Chesapeake Energy is now one of the largest producers of natural gas in the nation and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S.  Headquartered in Oklahoma City, their strategy is focused on discovering, acquiring and developing conventional and unconventional natural gas reserves onshore in the U.S., primarily in the "Big 4" natural gas shale plays: the Barnett Shale of north-central Texas, the Haynesville Shale of East Texas and northwestern Louisiana, the Fayetteville Shale of central Arkansas and the Marcellus Shale of the northern Appalachian Basin.

Fresh Screening

With Local Cheeses and Bread!

What: Screening of Fresh; Devouring of Local Bread and Cheese

Where: North Hall Lounge

When: Wednesday, Feb. 24 from 8:30-9:45pm

FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.  Find out more at  www.freshthemovie.com

Beer-curious?

Learn How to Make Your Own Beer!

What:  Beer Brewing Demonstration

Where:  Hastings kitchen

When:  Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7:30

Come discover how beer is made and discuss the importance of buying local!  Modern Brewer will demonstrate the brewing process here at HLS.  Snacks will be provided, and a set of beer brewing equipment will be auctioned off at the end of the event.  Space will be limited, so come early!

GIS Workshop

Mapping Massachusetts Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis 


Boston: April 28th and 29th, 2010*
Hyatt Place Boston/Medford - 116 Riverside Avenue Medford, MA 02155
*Note: These are one day workshops. Participants choose which one day to attend.

Audience: Beginners who would like to map demographic information for Massachusetts communities.  Great for Government Agencies, Public Health, Academic Institutions, Non-Profit Organizations, etc.  Could be useful for environmental organizations too!  


This hands-on workshop focuses on teaching the fundamentals of using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to extract Census data and good map layout and design.
For more information about the Massachusetts workshops, please visit http://www.urban-research.info/workshops/massachusetts-gis.htm