Thursday, September 23, 2010

Greenpeace's Executive Director to speak at Garden State GreenFest

PlanetHugger is proud to announce that we have Phil Radford as one of our speakers at GreenFest. Phil Radford is the Executive Director of Greenpeace. Come hear Phil speak about the Green issues facing our planet and learn about Greenpeace's work.

As the Executive Director of Greenpeace, Phil is at the helm of one of the largest and most influential environmental groups in the country. He leads a national team of 500 highly-skilled environmental leaders and is responsible for turning Greenpeace into a grassroots organizing powerhouse. Since joining Greenpeace in 2003, Phil increased Greenpeace’s field presence and strengthened its volunteer networks. He built a team of 250 canvassers in 15 cities, started the online organizing team, and grew a significant student organizing network through the creation of the Greenpeace Organizing Term, a semester of advanced training for student activists seeking campaign training. Today, Phil and his staff are focused on mobilizing their activist network to press the Obama administration on climate change and ending our addiction to oil.

Before joining Greenpeace, Radford founded Power Shift, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating clean energy market breakthroughs. As executive director, he worked with the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Berkeley, and others to secure solar energy efficiency investments for municipal buildings. He also won a commitment from Citigroup to offer and market energy efficient mortgages to make solar and wind power affordable for American home owners. Phil launched his environmental career with Green Corps in the class of 1999. He was always passionate about the environment and worked one of his first jobs as a door canvasser, fundraising for environmental issues. He grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. He has a degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a certificate in Non-profit Management from Georgetown University.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Why are You Green?



Lots of us have come to the Green Lifestyle from different places...I know for some of us, we married someone who was on the path already. As we learn about more ways to be green, and the long-term effects of NOT being green, we become motivated to change our ways even more.

What motivates you to be green? We'd love to hear...

Some of the things heard around here are...

"I want to be part of the solution"
"I love nature and want it to be there for my kids"
"I don't want to take more than I give of resources"
"I feel connected to the earth more now, and literally can't do things the same way"

TELL US in the comments what motivates you to be green, how you got there...whatever you would like to share!


Thanks

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Hairy Solution to an Oily Problem (Plus Free Haircuts!)

Planet Hugger is dedicated to helping the environment any way we can. So when we heard that very effective oil-absorbing booms could be made from discarded human and animal hair, we resolved to be part of this solution! Debutting at the Boston GreenFest, our "Boom Station" was a huge success. Local hair stylists offered free haircuts, and volunteers helped stuff donated stockings with hair to create the booms. We will then take them to the Gulf where they can be used to literally soak up the oil on the surface of the water.

To see up close how this works, check out Matter of Trust's video:
Hair Demo

For more information, go to

Matter of Trust

We are looking forward to repeating this successful effort in Somerset at the October GreenFest. It's a lot of fun and it helps a lot too! We want to thank our hair and fur donators (Federico Beauty institute, Wag Enterprises, Hair Therapy, and Dog's Day of Beauty, and West Coast Cuts) for helping to make this happen. We have over 400 pounds of hair and fur to use to make booms!

Won't you join us?

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Ed Begley Jr is our Three-Day Host This Year in October!

Those of us lucky enough to have heard him speak know how lucky Planet Hugger is to have Ed Begley be our host for all three days at our GreenFest in Somerset NJ, October 1-3. Ed's generosity and humor help us all learn about ways we can be greener.



Ed Begley

We are very happy to announce that Ed Begley will be our keynote speaker and host all three days of our PlanetHugger Event in New Jersey October 1-3 2010.

Ed has a show on the Green channel with his wife and has been a "green" person for decades! His warmth and humor as a speaker are wonderful and he touches his audience as he gently encourages them to be a little bit greener.

Turning up at Hollywood events on his bicycle, Ed has been considered an environmental leader in the Hollywood community for many years. He has served as chairman of the Environmental Media Association, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. He still serves on those boards, as well as the Thoreau Institute, the Earth Communications Office, Tree People and Friends of the Earth, among many others.His work in the environmental community has earned him a number of awards from some of the most prestigious environmental groups in the nation, including the California League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Coalition for Clean Air, Heal the Bay and the Santa Monica Baykeeper.

This year, Ed will host a special session with our GreenFest exhibitors. They will have their own private time with Ed and be able to ask questions and hear about his experiences.

Ed is just one of the many reasons we love GreenFest and you will too! Do you have a question for Ed? Let us know in the comments either here or on our Facebook page.