Lately, the natural gas lobbyist have been slamming Josh and his documentary. Maybe it has something to do with his Oscar nomination and the fact that more and more people are learning about this process and becoming outraged; Outraged at the fact, this is possibly a huge experiment on the American people.

A natural gas lobby group, Energy in Depth, commented:

“While it’s unfortunate there isn’t an Oscar category for propaganda, this nomination is fitting, as the Oscars are aimed at praising pure entertainment among Hollywood’s elite. Without doubt, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Gasland for its work in the field of art, not science.”

America’s Natural Gas Alliance commented,

“This nomination is particularly troubling because natural gas is routinely and safely produced across this country and holds such extraordinary potential to advance our nation’s clean energy economy. Contrary to the film’s claims, natural gas development can and does exist in harmony with our environment, and it can play a central role in improving our nation’s air quality and solving our energy challenges.”

Today Josh Fox speaks out about oil lobby’s effort to crush his film in an article from Joshua Kors:

“Josh Fox’s home sits in the woods of Milanville, Pennsylvania, near the rushing waters of the Delaware River. In May 2008, a strange letter appeared in his mailbox. A natural gas company was offering him $100,000 if he granted them permission to drill on his property.

Instead of signing, Fox decided to investigate. Armed with a video camera and a banjo, he set off on a journey up and down the Marcellus Shale, a massive reserve of natural gas that stretches 600 miles from Pennsylvania to Maryland, Virginia and into Tennessee. Known as the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas,” the shale contains billions of dollars in untapped fuel.

Fox wanted to know: What happened to other families who agreed to drilling on their property?

What he found was a heartbreaking collection of severely ill families whose aquifers had become so tainted by the gas, they could literally light their tap water on fire. He edited his footage into a modest documentary, Gasland, which was soon embraced by outraged viewers across the country. It won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the Lennon-Ono Peace Prize, and now has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

With the spotlight, Fox has been transformed from a mild-mannered art director at a Brooklyn theater company to a respected filmmaker to an outspoken activist on par with Erin Brockovich, a professional thorn in the side of the natural gas industry. A few weeks before his Oscar nod, Fox spoke with me about the unexpected acclaim and the oil lobby’s efforts to crush his documentary.”

Read the rest here…

Trailer for GasLand:

I started All Green Things 3 ½ years ago with so much passion and wanted to empower myself and others to challenge themselves to do more for our environment. 2 years ago I decided to keep moving forward and open a brick-and-mortar location. I figured, ‘Why let the economy slow me down?’ I really believed in what I was trying to accomplish and felt if it were meant to work out, it would. I always knew that starting my own company would be the biggest challenge of my life and guess what, it has been. One of the biggest challenges has been not having the resources to hire any full time employees. The recession made it so much more challenging than I could have ever imagined. A future book could be in the works, “How the banks will bone you in a recession!”

There have been so many lessons learned. One is realizing you can’t ignore the hard facts. I think this is what drives many companies out of business forever. My reality is that spreading myself as thin as I have, is not working for me anymore. When I first acknowledged this to myself, I felt like I was a failure. It really took a while to understand I am not a failure, I am just making a very wise decision. I have decided to close my storefront and go back to an on-line store. Making this hard choice is going to enable me to continue my company and let it be what it needs to be for now.

I have been blessed to meet so many wonderful people in my community who share a similar vision for our environment. It is a wonderful experience to have a place where people can walk through your doors, sit and talk and learn from one another. It really makes you feel like you belong to your community. I have made many friendships that will last a lifetime. My community has touched my heart and in some small way I hope I have touched yours.

I will still be out and about in LA doing my “Green” thang but I am going to miss seeing everyone that would walk through my doors on a normal business day. The positive side to all of this is that I will actually have more time to write for the blog. This has been quite a challenge to do with all the other responsibilities hanging over my head.

The website is going to be in transition until about February. Shortly after, I will launch with several changes and a different product mix, including an expanded inventory. For those of you who are local, make it in for the months of January and February for some great deals.

My heart is open and ready to see what 2011 has to bring my way. I wish everyone love, good health and happiness during this Holiday season.

Be well, Tanya

What really strikes me is that the US national average greenhouse gas emissions are 27 tons per person and the worlds average is 5.5 tons for a 1-person household. Holy cow! I understand most Americans live dramatically different than the rest of the world but maybe we can begin to understand some basic principles in how to reduce our own carbon footprint. The world has a fixed amount of natural resources and as our population grows we strain these finite resources so we need to preserve what we have so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy the same standard of living we have enjoyed.

A great place to begin is to find out what you or your family’s carbon footprint is. The Nature Conservancy has a great Carbon calculator that is easy to use. Once you have an idea, you can get busy doing some easy things to help our climate.

* The first thing you can do is to turn it off, if your not using it! Lights, TV, DVD players, computers, etc…

* You can save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10°–15° for eight hours. You can do this automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing an automatic setback or programmable thermostat.

* Turn down the water heating setting. Just 2 degrees will make a significant savings!

* Fill your dishwasher and washing machine with a full load – this will save you water, electricity, and washing detergent.

* Hang your wash on a line instead of tumble-drying it. You can do this indoors or outdoors. I have a wooden clothing rack that I dry all my shirts and jeans on indoors. Drying clothes costs around $0.50/load of laundry done in an electric dryer or around $0.45/load of laundry to dry in a gas clothes dryer. The gas dryer costs around $0.04/load for electricity and $0.41/load for the gas. The average family will do around 6 loads of laundry a week, which is 312 loads of laundry a year! So if you are using an electric clothes dryer you will spend around $156/year just from drying your clothes. If you are using a gas clothes dryer, you will spend around $140.40/year to dry your clothes! (gogreeninyourhome.com)

* Travel less. This is a joke in Los Angeles because most of us have no choice but to drive on our freeways, however, if you are mindful of this idea there will be opportunities to make a carbon footprint friendly choice from time to time! Carpool, use the bus, or train, walk or cycle, and reduce the number of flights you take.

As well as your primary footprint, there is a secondary footprint that you cause through your buying habits. This is where my family and I started when we wanted to take being green seriously. It has been a slow and evolving commitment but we do not even think about these things because they are a part of our everyday living. We just do it!

* Don’t buy bottled water!!! Purchasing a reusable bottle is easier than ever. Tap water is safe!!!! Save yourself a lot of money and buy a water filter and fill up your own reusable bottle. This is a no brainier! More plastic bottle facts found here.

* Use reusable bags when at the store. There is a bag for every personality type out there. It depends on when and what I am shopping for but I always have two Flip & Tumble bags in my purse for those last minute occasions when I have to run to the store. They are the best!! Keep reusable bags in your house and in the trunk of every car so you have one no matter what. For more sobering plastic bag facts, go here.

*Buy local!!!! Folks, we all can find a farmers market close to our homes now. I know not every community has one but most do now a days. It is so much better. I love going to markets and knowing who grows my food. I love talking to the families who take great pride in traditional farming methods unlike most of the conventional farming that is ruining or food supply. Please take the time to learn more about commercial farming and the horrible conditions that take place. More resources found here.

* Buy organic when you can. I know this is not possible for everyone but if you can, please do. Pesticides are not helping our bodies.

* Reduce your consumption of meat. I am a meat eater. I grew up on a farm and what can I say…I love meat. The commitment I made is to only eat red meat once a week. That works for me. Maybe you can start meatless Mondays. Cows, pigs and other livestock are a big part of the climate change problem; estimates vary, but between 18 and 51 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming come from livestock production. As bad as the air pollution is, the effects of animal feces on water may be even more immediate and troubling.

* Don’t buy over packaged products.

* Recycle as much as possible. The city of Los Angeles collects all plastics 1-7, cardboard, magazines, paper and all clean dry paper, glass bottles, jars, aluminum, tin, metal, bi-metal and styrofoam. We are lucky, most communities only collect plastic and glass. Call you local government to find out what you can recycle.

This all comes down to being mindful of your actions and how you move through your life. If we continue to walk around with our eyes closed to our responsibilities we will wake up one day and ask, “What the hell has happened to our beautiful country?” Start with one thing. Get it down. This takes time when you’re converting an entire family. They will rebel sometimes. When you accomplish that first goal, pat yourself on the back, and pick your number two goal. Just start! This is what will make a change. All of us making these changes together make a difference!!!

I learned of Green Drinks, from Margaret Lydecker, over dinner about three years ago when attending a Green Expo in Vegas. Margaret started the New York City Chapter in 2002 and it is the largest global chapter with 14,000 plus members. Wow!

I’ve had so much fun meeting new people from all different kinds of backgrounds. The one thread that brings us all together is being green or wanting to learn more about being green. I have made great lasting friendships through this event. This is why I want to tell all those who have never heard of Green Drinks to find one in your local hood. If there is not one, start one up. North Dakota and Utah have yet to begin a chapter. What’s stopping you from starting one??

Every month people meet up at informal sessions. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network. Many people have found employment, developed new ideas, done deals, and had moments of serendipity. It’s a force for the good!

All Green Drinks follow the Green Drinks Code. Read it to see how Green Drinks works and then apply to set one up in your town or city. More tips and mentors are available once you have started. Meet for some beverages, have a chat and plug into your local green networking group.

The idea was conceived one morning while rushing around to pack their kid’s lunches in the morning. Every item they were grabbing needed to be kept cold so they ended up putting it all away instead of putting it in the lunch sack. They realized that it did not make sense to put back the items that were the healthiest. So the next thing you know, a business was born.

Preparing your meals at home is healthier for you, your family, as well as a money saver. 100 million plastic bags a week go into a landfill and Packit is a great way to help reduce this number. They come in 4 great colors at the moment with more to come in the next few months. Get yours now and save 10% until August 31st, 2010. Use the promotion code: PackIt at check out. Go Green!!

Severn Cullis-Suzuki personally wrote the entire speech. My hero!

More and more moms are making their baby food when making the transition in to solid foods. Now there is a great storage solution for this transition. The Wean Green Glass cubes come in 4 great colors: Raspberry, Blueberry, Peas, and Carrots. How cute!

I personally do not have any babies, that I know of (just kidding), so I think I will be using the cubes for lunch items. I have slowly replaced my plastic containers with glass. I have found it difficult to find small glass lidded containers, and well, I no longer have that problem thanks to Wean Green!

I am waiting for my shipment to arrive, which will be here any day, so we are taking pre-orders. I am sure this will be a very popular item, so don’t delay!!

Melissa, the founder of Wean Green, shares recipes of the week on the Wean Green Blog. This is the most current:

Pumpkin & Carrot Orange Mush

(6+ Months)
1 pumpkin
10 carrots

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut the pumpkin lengthwise. Scoop out all the seeds and guts.

3. Cut off the ends of the carrots and cut them in half.

4. Put the pumpkin in your baking pan so that the skin is facing up. Add the carrots and 1/4 cup water.

5. Bake for 45 minutes.

6. Scoop out the pumpkin from the skin.

7. Puree pumpkin and carrots together in a food processor or blender adding breast milk or water as needed.

Pour into Wean Cubes
Remember to check the temperature before serving.
Store the leftovers in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 6 months.

I found this clip from the Rachel Maddow show very enlightening. I had no idea about this previous spill in 1979. Maybe because I was only 8 years old at the time. The one thing that I can remember from my Humanities college class was my weird teacher who wore the funkiest suits to class. He would have the entire class repeat over and over the name Thucydides (c. 455 – 400 BC, Greek historian of the Peloponnesian war). His famous quote was that “History repeats itself.” Unfortunately, this oil spill has repeated itself!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

More video underwater in the Gulf with Philippe Cousteau Jr., grandson of famous explorer Jacques Cousteau, and he described what he saw as “one of the most horrible things I’ve ever seen underwater.”

Chairman Ed Markey requested live footage of the spill be made available to the public. Originally BP did not want the live feed up while doing the “Top Kill” attempt. BP has reversed their decision to cut the public video feed during Operation Top Kill. The oil company provides no reason for the decision to cut the feed in the first place. This is a day I hope our prayers are answered. I truly hope this works!

Live Feed on Huffington Post