Some of you may ask, how are you so busy when the economy is the worst it’s been in years, and many people have lost their jobs?  I work in the green building/energy efficiency sector; it is the one area that is experiencing exponential growth.  I, in fact was hired at the college (City College of San Francisco), in hopes I would help “green-up” the construction curriculum.  Green Building and Energy Efficiency are the two areas that are looking for qualified people for many job openings now and in the near future.

The key word is qualified!  Employers that I have met with are having a hard time filling positions for managers, technicians, engineers, and tradespeople because individuals who possess the skills necessary to do these types of jobs are few and far in between.  President Obama made good on his promise to send economic stimulus money to provide job training for Green Jobs.  I know this for a fact, many of the programs I work at have been funded to provide such training.  The task now is to get the people to go back to school to refresh their skills or acquire new ones in order to be able to fill these positions as they open up.

If you are looking for work, I strongly encourage you to consider a career that is related to Green Building/Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency/Weatherization.  We have the money for the jobs and training, what we don’t have are the people.  This is across the US not only my neck of the woods!

Look for future posts as I will give data and statistics on which areas show the most growth and what employers are looking for in employees.  Stay hopeful my friends!

For 2008 they have partnered with Youth Venture and are seeking applications for this exciting program that supports students around high school and college campuses that start environmentally friendly ventures:

“Are you passionate about making the world a better place? Have an idea about how to make your fellow students and your school more socially responsible? Want to turn that idea into a reality?”

Conscious Lifestyle is accepting applications for its 2008 venture program.

Submit an application for the chance to win:

* Up to $1,000 in start-up funding
* Web space on consciouslifestyle.org
* Monthly skill-building workshops
* Personalized support
* Access to a network of social entrepreneurs

To learn more and download an application, visit http://consciouslifestyle.org/ventures.

Application Deadline: February 15, 2008.

In the UK, thanks to organisations such as Young Peoples Trust for the Environment, the Wildlife Trusts and many other organisations this is being achieved. Young children are being provided with excellent environmental education, ranging from the natural world to renewable energy.

An example of a new local environmental education programme in Nottingham is ‘Mariel’s Green Village’ which forms part of the ‘Reading Keen Thinking Green’ programme at Care Training – East Midlands. They had their first session on Monday 22nd October and it was a great success!

The aim of Mariels Green Village (named after the programmes coordinator) is to educate and inform parents and kids on the dangers of global warming and how small changes to your life can make a big difference to the planet. Their approach to this is all done in a very gentle, round-about, fun way so they don’t appear too extreme!

I will keep you posted about when their next session is and how they progress – lets hope that they inspire lots of children and parents to be greener.

A big focus of Whyville is global warming and the virtual world includes a tie-in with Al Gore and An Inconvenient Truth. Whyville’s virtual citizens get to actually experience climate-related crises and consequences, such as virtual tropical storms which recently struck Whyville bringing lots of wind, rain and debris. In response, Whyville “citizens” joined together in a massive clean up effort to restore their environment. After the storm hit, concerned citizens started flocking to the newly created Whyville Climate Center (WCC) to learn about how CO2 levels affect climate change.  At the WCC, citizens will soon be able to travel back in time to see how major events — like the opening of the Whyville virtual airport — affected Whyville’s atmosphere.  Each citizen will also be given their own carbon footprint calculator, which lets them see how their decisions in the virtual world affect their contribution to the CO2 levels.

A really fun feature is that kids can come up with their own identity.  This is me as a Whyvillan!

What I like best about Whyville is that kids must first get their parents permission to chat and also pass a chat license test.  What this does is test kids knowledge on what is proper chat etiquette so hopefully no pervs disguised as kids can get the little “whyvillans” to give out personal information!

Since most kids today are way more tech-savvy than we were at their age I encourage all parents to introduce them to Whyville so they can be eco-savvy as well!

Lead by our good friend Tracey Smith from National Downshifting Week is a petition to the Prime Minister asking for lessons on how to lead a green and sustainable lifestyle to be incorporated into the national curriculum.

Here’s what she says about it:

“A nationally supported educational structure that raises environmental and sustainable awareness, would get all of our children on the right, green track before they step into adult life.

Elements should include:- how to compost, seasonal cooking from fresh (which should never have left the curriculum), basic fruit and vegetable cultivation, what’s in our hedgerows, better interaction via a revival of non-electric games, natural cleaning without chemicals, balancing your cheque book/living within your means, simple renewable energy and promotion of volunteering in our communities, amongst others.

Children are the leaders of the future and would benefit from proper ‘life-lessons’ offering real guidance – let’s take the ‘freaky out of eco’ by normalising and encouraging sustainable behaviour and lifestyles.”

So brilliant I can’t believe it hasn’t been done already!

If you agree petition our PM today!

This is where I think Progressive Kid have got it right. Run by Julie and Sarah, Progressive Kid is all about positivity, communicating life affirming values to your family and challenging the negative messages all around us. I particularly like their list of mantras displayed on their site:

• love and protect living things
• act on principle
• strive to be self aware
• live healthily
• honor difference
• challenge gender roles
• think creatively

The first of these was a very strong message from my parents when I was a child and it certainly influenced the way I live today.

I reckon that if us adults lived along those guidelines most of the time then the world would be a better place. One day the kids of today will be adults and if they hold those values then I think that’s definitely something to look forward to.

Progressive Kid sells products to inspire families as well as run a blog called ‘On a Ledge‘.

The Eric Prydz vs Floyd ‘Proper Education’ video was created in partnership with Global Cool.

Global Cool are an organisation who work with various high profile people, scientists and anyone who is interested in environmental issues to help raise awareness about global warming. They are committed to supporting individuals to take positive, proactive steps.

The ‘Proper Education’ video shows young people taking those steps and conveying a powerful message by replacing ordinary light bulbs with energy efficient ones in a building. If you want to see what happens, you’ll have to watch the video to the end.

One other message that I’m sure was intentional and I think is very important in this video is how young people are portrayed. They’ve flipped this ‘hoodie’ obsession on its head and shown the teenagers as responsible and proactive people, not demonised them like so many forms of media at the moment.

Nice one Eric Prydz and Global Cool, we need more videos like this! Also, nice one to GGG reader Jon for highlighting it!

they were originally mentioned by a visionary called Baha’u’llah in the middle of the 19th century – but here is basically what it states :

-Equality of rights for men and women. Until this happens, there is little chance for peace to develop.

-Abandon of all kinds of prejudices; social, racial, … etc.

-Universal education (basic education and instruction for everyone should also enhance greater tolerance and understanding among people.)

-Universal auxiliary language to facilitate global communication and better understanding.

-Strike a balance between science and religion (i.e. science and religion cannot be in contradiction with each other; they are complementary in nature. Like two sides of the same coin; dealing with the material and spiritual aspects of human life. )

-Search for spiritual (ethical) solutions to economical issues to eradicate the extremes of wealth and poverty on earth.

-Create a (true) international tribunal binding to all nations.

-Independent investigation of truth (learn to use and trust your own thinking, which is easier to do when you know how to read and write.

-Religion to become the cause of unity among people as opposed to an excuse for war and strife.

-Accept that all major religions are equal in status and basically stem from the same source.

-Hence all messengers of god are united in essence. However impossible it may be to define the concept of god, there appears to be evidence that the basic moral principles of most religions are complementary in nature and that diffences in the practical precepts are mostly due to historical and environmental contexts. As the world evolves, contexts change. So, why wouldn’t we have to adapt our thinking and behaviour as well?

- logical consequence of the preceding 11 principles would be a condition we might define as World Peace.