This guest post was submitted by Daniel Fielding, the editor of Shades of Green, a blog highlighting developments made towards preserving the environment and improving quality of life. The London Olympic committee's workforce reached a milestone of over 12,000 strong this week. This wouldn't be big news: unless you consider the fact that half of these jobs can be designated as sustainable. Everything from the toilets in the Olympic Village, to the swimming pools heater will be employing sustainable technology at levels never seen before on such a large scale.

Today is Blog Action Day! If you are unaware of what this means, it is a day set aside for bloggers to write about one issue in order to cause greater awareness and make a difference in the world. This years subject is climate change. One of my absolute favorite activities is snowboarding. In my senior year of high school I raced varsity on our snowboard team, and had been boarding 3 years prier. I remember the very first day I learned, it was in a blizzard. There was fresh powder every day I got up to the slopes. It was a wonderland. Each year, however, the snow has been falling less. Powder has gotten increasingly rare. This last winter each night the snow fell, we had a freeze and we were left with really hard snow. It is hard enough to work up the courage to attempt a 180 off a jump, but when the surface you are landing on is basically ice, all my courage goes out the door.  Moving into spring, it is seen across the country that rivers are not flowing so freely. Less snow means less water.

Founding Chapter of National Federation to help Green Businesses Hosts Annual Celebration at Green Law Firm in Oakland, CA On November 5, 2009 at 5:30pm PST the Green Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its second year with an event titled "Building an Honest Economy". The event is hosted by Wendel Rosen Black & Dean, a Green Chamber business member, and features an awards ceremony and speech by Ahmed Rahim, CEO and co-founder of Numi Organic Tea. With major businesses such as PG&E and Apple withdrawing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in opposition to its stance on climate change, more businesses are looking to alternative organizations to represent their values. The Green Chamber of Commerce is offering just that.

Hello, my name is Andrea Jilot. I am the newest Green Maven on the block, and ready for duty. Tennis and Snowboarding are my favorite activities, so when I am not doing one because of the weather, I am most likely doing the other. My family has always been “Green” without really knowing what it was. Recently, however, my mother has gotten very involved in greywater planning in the SF Bay Area.  As an intern for GreenMaven.com, I will be assessing the websites that submit to the directory, and accepting those that meet the GreenMaven criteria. Each website gives me a new idea of what it means to be Green.  I will also be blogging for GreenMaven featuring businesses from the directory, books and partners and so forth.

I just finished reading a book written by Christie Matheson called Green Chic, Saving the Earth in Style. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great, simple resource guide to greening all aspects of your life. Christie’s background is in writing for travel, fashion and food publications such as Body and Soul, Glamour and the Boston Globe Magazine and she has co-authored several books on these topics. Having no background at all in being ‘Green’, Christie spent a couple of years researching the topic of ‘going green’ and thoroughly documenting everything you can do in your life to make a difference without sacrificing your style. She actually proves that by going green you can increase your chicness! What I really appreciated in Green Chic was Christie’s easy-going and sometimes humorous writing style and her overall philosophy about ‘going green’. “It’s not about consuming more, it’s about changing your way of thinking. How can we still be stylish and chic while doing our part to save the earth?” For me personally having been living a green lifestyle for several years now, I was especially touched by chapter 5, Hello Gorgeous. In this chapter she reminded me of the dangers of cosmetics and beauty products as well as how to trim down my clothing consumption and how to style out my closet more effectively. I highly recommend getting a copy of this book and passing it on! It is published by Sourcebooks, Inc, www.sourcebooks.com and sells for just $10 on Amazon.com. Stacie Shepp, Green Maven Editor

Mingtong Gu - Wisdom Healing QiGong from Green Gorilla Media on Vimeo. Qigong Master Mingtong Gu will lead a "Healer Within" workshop in the Bay Area from May 31 - June 1 at the International House at UC-Berkeley. Mingtong Gu is an internationally recognized teacher and healer who received his training from a variety of grandmasters in China and at the world's largest Qigong hospital. This "medicine-less" hospital, Zhineng Qigong Center, has treated over 200,000 patients with over 185 different illnesses and has a 95% success rate. The main objective of the "Healer Within" workshop is to empower individuals to use their own healing abilities. For more information, visit www.chicenter.com. To register, click here.

Edited by Bill McKibben with a foreword by Al Gore. “Every important advance in American environmentalism,” according to writer and activist Bill McKibben, “has coincided with—sprung from—some piece of writing, some book. We can’t afford those voices to die out.” Now, as America and the world grapple with global ecological challenges, McKibben ensures that these voices will be heard with his unprecedented and timely anthology gathering the best that has been thought and said about the interconnectedness of the natural world, our place in it, and our responsibility to it. This April 22nd, The Library of America marked Earth Day 2008 with the release of the first definitive anthology of American environmental writing: AMERICAN EARTH: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau (hardcover, $40.00), edited by McKibben with a foreword by Al Gore. Touchstones of the environmental imagination—the essays of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Burroughs; Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring—are set alongside the inspiring story of an emerging activist movement, as revealed by newly uncovered narratives of pioneering campaigns for wilderness conservation, passages from landmark legal opinions and legislation, and searing protest speeches.

If you're interested in learning more about green topics such as conservation, green technology and social justice, check out "Keep It Green", on Wednesdays, 8 p.m. EST on Equator HD, the first 24/7 hi-definition channel dedicated to global adventure and green living. The original series returns for a second season with a newly expanded half-hour format and a brand new host: noted green expert (and Green Maven editor) Melissa Mansfield . Each week, Melissa interviews leaders in their field about important environmental and social issues, shows viewers how simple choices can make a big difference and offers practical advice about sustainability. Melissa is a green lifestyle expert and activist, with an extensive background in environmental and social justice issues. She lives the green lifestyle, walking or biking to work almost every day. She is a vegetarian and teaches yoga in her spare time. "I'm really excited about Keep It Green's new season," Melissa says. "We're covering topics ranging from the hottest green car technology to saving humpback whales. The show is all about informing and empowering viewers so they're inspired to take action." The first episode of KEEP IT GREEN premiered on Wednesday, April 23 at 8pm ET/9pm PT/7C on EQUATOR HD. Weekly guest include leaders from Interface, NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries, Popular Science, the National Audubon Society, Grameen and Doctors Without Borders. EQUATOR HD is available nationally on the DISH Network satellite service (Channel 9471) and Cablevision's iO digital cable service (Channel 728). Interview segments and Melissa's blog will also be featured online each week at www.blog.equatorhd.com.  

by Anna Adea and Melissa Mansfield In 1854, the streets of San Francisco were illuminated for the first time by gas lamps. Over a hundred years later, California and the world are struggling with energy challenges in the face of global warming. And the original lamplighter of 1854 - the San Francisco Gas Company, which ultimately became the mega-utilities corporation PG&E - is now seeing the light on the need for sustainable power. PG&E - and California - are already ahead of the game in many ways. Over the past 30 years, while the nation's energy per capita consumption jumped 50 percent, California's remained flat. How? In the 1990's, California took unprecedented action by "decoupling" utilities' profits from their sale of energy, setting the stage for energy efficiency to become a source of energy and money. "PG&E does not make money from selling more energy. It profits from how much energy it saves," explained Jennifer Zerwer, PG&E spokesperson. "PG&E treats energy efficiency as its top resource." Read more...

Green Maven has partnered with 97.1 Free FM, The FM Talk Station, to develop the Green Maven Minute, a one minute radio series targeted at educating mainstream consumers on how to Go Green. The Green Maven Minute provides a trusted ‘Green’ consumer solution followed by a sponsor message from a Green or Going Green company. The Green Maven Minute is currently running live at KLSX 97.1 FM (Los Angeles). Reading the Green Maven Minutes is Joey Shepp, the Founder and Editor in Chief of Green Maven and an expert in Green Marketing, Sustainable Business, and Online Media. He has 10+ years in working in the Green Economy as an entrepreneur, consultant, and speaker. Mr. Shepp has a BA in Ecological Design from UC Santa Cruz, and an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise from Dominican University. Learn more about Joey Shepp at www.JoeyShepp.com

Los Angeles is probably not the first city you'd associate with a "green" or "sustainable" ethos - in fact, quite the contrary. Known for being a smoggy, sprawl-heavy concrete jungle, the City of Angels has been (very) slow to bolster its green credentials - having only recently embarked on a series of initiatives aimed at redressing its eco-image. One organization that has been doing its part to reshape LA into a more eco-friendly metropolis is Opportunity Green, founded earlier this year by entrepreneurs Karen Solomon and Mike Flynn. Adopting a more business-centric approach, Solomon and Flynn hope to leverage the accomplishments and ongoing efforts of various LA luminaries and noted eco-entrepreneurs from around the country to stimulate a green awakening among Angelenos. Partnering with the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Sustainable Resource Center - along with a host of business/media sponsors - OG will put on its inaugural conference this Saturday, November 17. With panels spanning a gamut of issues ranging from green 2.0 to the future of mobility - hosted by a distinguished cast of speakers and moderators - the ambitious duo wants to attract a diverse audience of students, policymakers and entrepreneurs. The conference will be headlined by Kevin Wall, the founder of Live Earth and CEO of music powerhouse Control Room, and John Picard, the renowned environmental designer and builder. The panel speakers are a veritable who's who of noted greenies, including The Lazy Environmentalist himself, Josh Dorfman, Jamais Cascio of WorldChanging and Joshua Onysko of Pangea Organics. If you're into green - whether it be business, clean tech or design - you can't afford not to come.  

Green Maven Editor in Cheif Joey Shepp and Reporter Stacie Shepp attended this year's BSR conference at the San Francisco Hyatt. We were happy to see the conference packed full of corporate leaders, authentically interested in sustainbility. During the conference, the organizers ran an interesting poll, here are the results: "The poll of 331 leaders from the corporate responsibility field conducted at the conference, includes responses from a rare mix of business executives, policymakers and civil society leaders, and confirms the increasing attention on sustainable business practices across the globe. Among the findings: ** 82 percent say they are optimistic that companies around the world will make corporate social responsibility (CSR) a core business strategy in the next five years. ** 47 percent say consumer behavior or corporate reputation are influencing CSR decisions. ** 31 percent are turning to energy efficiency to reduce carbon impact; while just 6 percent say that buying carbon offsets is their preferred corporate climate strategy." Download the Complete Poll Results and Press Release in PDF >>  

by Lorna Li The debate about fuel efficiency standards and renewable electricity standards in the new Energy Bill is getting hotter. While Congress discusses the Energy Bill behind closed doors, numerous student groups and environmental organizations, have been lobbying Congress hard this fall to get serious about global warming and to adopt a strong clean Energy Bill for 2007 . All weekend, hundreds of students rallied on campuses across the U.S. in honor of the National Day of Climate Action on Saturday, November 3rd. On Monday, November 5th, a huge student initiative took place on Capitol Hill called Power Shift 2007 - the largest youth lobby on global warming ever. 3,000 students demanded of their elected officials bold and comprehensive climate change legislation that will put America back on the path to a clean and just energy future. Take Action >>  

“Imagine, a trusted marketplace filled with products from around the world, each positively impacting the producer’s community, environment and their unique sense of self. Introducing Project Good , a global initiative to build the largest and most trusted people positive marketplace.” With led paint on children’s toys adding to the already growing number of concerns that socially conscious consumers have about the source and impact of their shopping decisions, this introduction from ProjectGood.com sounds like a dream. But ecommerce powerhouse eBay Inc. and World of Good , an organization that works to alleviate poverty by opening markets for artisan communities worldwide, have joined forces to create a marketplace that is planning on making that dream a reality. The mission of Project Good is to create a destination for socially conscious shopping where consumers can blend their personal values with their purchasing power to foster positive change around the world. The key to this marketplace is bringing together what the Project Good team has titled Trust Providers – mission-driven trade associations and third-party certifying organizations like Transfair , Fair Trade Federation and Co-op America to name just a few. For the first time, these Trust Providers are coming together to act as the gatekeepers to the marketplace, ensuring that every product on the site is people and planet friendly. Bringing together trusted people positive products and information in one marketplace adds a level of convenience to socially conscious shopping that rivals that of conventional options, while maintaining a commitment to economic vitality and stability for people around the world. Project Good is scheduled to launch in the later this year. For more information visit www.projectgood.com Read More

Current & the Alliance for Climate Protection are looking for creative and provocative ecospots; very short video messages that will drive your friends, community or government to get involved in solving the climate crisis. Read More...