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Alex Thorp's commitment to battling climate change is taking him places. Last summer, the sophomore environmental science major visited the Polar Institute in Tromsø, Norway, where he got to see the effects of climate change first hand.

While glacier climbing outside Tromsø, Thorp observed "a visible and exponential increase in the melting rate" over the past 70 years. "Our guide told us he goes to the glacier once a week and that every time he returns there are new visible signs of retreat both in terms of the glacier's width and thickness," he says.

Thorp was invited on the trip after winning an environmental essay contest sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy. Essayists addressed the prospect of new natural and commercial resources—including oil, natural gas, fisheries, and sea trade routes—becoming available as polar sea ice melts. But access to these new resources has a price. "Arctic organisms will be unable to survive the changes," Thorp says. "Warmer conditions push habitats farther north and the top tiers of Arctic consumers are funning out of things to feed on. In the case of fish, warmer water feeders are moving north and the Arctic feeders just can't compete with them."

Thorp's winning piece stressed collaboration and communication between the countries ringing the Arctic, Russia, Norway, Canada, the United States, and Greenland, an autonomous constituent country of Denmark. "Cooperation between the five Arctic countries in advance of these resources being made available is the only way it can work," Thorp says.

Thorp is an active member of the student group Eco Sense and participated in the Power Shift 2009 Conference, during which 12,000 young people met on Capitol Hill with an agenda of pressing lawmakers toward bolder, more effective environmental policies. In the Spring of 2010, he will attend Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, as a Killiam Fellow. The fellowship, which funds a year of study at a Canadian university, is intended to foster a sense of community and understanding between the United States and Canada.

An article posted on the American University website about Alex's trip this past Summer for winning an essay contest sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy.

"One of the main principles of permaculture is that 'the problem is the solution.'
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If some of us would just put forth the extra effort, I think we'd all find things like this could spark our personal creativity and -- dare I say --- be fun.

If you're a parent looking for a good system to share about clean energy and how to go green with your kids, CLOVERS might be worth a look. Designed by Valeria Bianco, CLOVERS is an excellent instructional tool to help your teen-agers understand the basic principles of renewable energy, solar power, and to be conscious of the amount of electricity their toys and devices actually consume.

Please add your comment below or start a discussion at Green Options.

Translucent Advertising, a newly created advertising company dedicated to conserving the environment, has devised an innovative and eco-friendly advertising solution which will greatly reduce the need for plastic bags. The goal is to provide advertisers' with an ecological solution that will benefit their exposure on a daily basis. Translucent Advertising will provide 100% compostable t-shirt bags, known as "BAG-ADS". Bag-Ads will be distributed to all brick and mortar locations (i.e., retail, grocery stores, gas stations, etc) within select networks at no cost for daily usage by store customers. Bag-Ads will contain prime advertising space which will be available for companies seeking to maximize their brand exposure in specific markets.

According to Translucent Advertising's CEO Camilo Ferro, "Bag-Ads present potential advertisers with a rare win-win opportunity to be both business savvy and eco-friendly in today's environmentally conscious society. Not only do Bag-Ads make plastic bags obsolete, they also serve as mobile billboards for company advertisers who wish to market their product or service on a local level with daily impressions."

Made using only naturally compostable materials, Bag-Ads are 100% compostable which will decompose in a controlled composting environment in 10-45 days, leaving no harmful residues behind. Certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute to meet the ASTM D6400 specification, Bag-Ads are GMO free and do not contain polyethylene. Bag-Ads vary in size according to the needs of each individual brick and mortar location.

Brick and mortar locations which are in agreement with Translucent Advertising receive Bag-Ads at no cost, immediately saving the stores money and removing the need to use plastic bags. Advertisers are guaranteed daily impressions with Bag-Ads. As a result of the increased exposure, companies are given the opportunity to increase their profits.

Continually working towards a greener future, Translucent Advertising is determined to do its part to save the environment through "Going Green with Bag-Ads."

About Translucent Advertising:

Translucent Advertising aims to eliminate the need for plastic bags all over the world. Translucent Advertising's "Going Green with Bag-Ads" is open to any company searching for an affordable and eco-friendly advertising solution. Translucent Advertising's "Going Green with Bag-Ads" advertising method is patent-pending.

For additional information, please visit Translucent Advertising's website:

http://www.translucentadvertising.com or email: mjrichmond@traslucentadvertising.com

The Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) in North America is proud to announce it will be hosting its IEMA Workshop titled, “Certified CSR Practitioner IEMA Approved”, on February 9-10, 2010 for the second time in Chicago.

This certified workshop will give participants the opportunity to earn a certificate designating them as Qualified to originate and manage a Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability program within their organization. The CSE workshop is certified by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), and is designed for all professionals responsible for the management of CSR, Marketing, and Public Relations activities. General Managers, Public Relations Managers and Sustainability and Environmental Professionals can advance their Sustainability understanding, acquire the skill and knowledge that will bring added value and authenticity to their company, and also earn an official business qualification through this two-day workshop.

With specialized, detailed and highly focused training, the CSE workshop will cover:

• CSR/Sustainable Development Concepts & its Return on Investment

• Global Warming & Climate Change Issues

• Future trends & legislation in the U.S. & Worldwide on Corporate Responsibility

• The Stakeholder Approach & CSR

• CSR Communication & Reporting

• Global Standards/Models/Guidelines & Tools for practical CSR integration (GRI, UN Global Compact, EFQM)

• A CSR Action Plan for your organization (prerequisite for CSR practitioner Qualification)

More than 80 Professionals from 5 continents have already joined this unique workshop, which is designed for all professionals responsible for the Sustainable Management of their organizations. The certified workshop, launched in Europe and expanded in many different countries successfully by CSE, represents a stepping-stone for organizations that want to implement Sustainability into their operations gradually, one-step at a time. September's CSR Practitioner Workshop was certified as carbon neutral and attracted an eclectic group of professionals, ranging from CSR Managers to University Directors, and finally CSR media.

To request additional information or register in the next workshop contact CSE at research@cse-net.org or info@cse-northamerica.org .

EXCERPT:

If you believe Ban Ki Moon, the UN climate summit next month in Copenhagen will be a failure by any rational standard. Oh, he and other politicians will find a way to put a positive spin on things and thereby create the opportunity to declare a limited success. INo doubt, their speech-writers are already drafting a framework for self-congratulatory pronouncements which disguise their irony behind a smile and a statement about how much work there remains to do.

... [Nonetheless, several] organizations ... have put together a global petition on the web and asked people around the world to sign it during the month leading up to the UN climate conference.

www.hopenhagen.org

Sign it. Spread the word. Put it on your campus website. Chalk it on your sidewalks. Paint it on that big rock on the quad -- you know, the one that's typically covered in a variety of Greek letters. Soap it on the windows of the dining hall. Flash it on the JumboTron during half-time. And organize a series of events during the run-up to the conference.

We need to convey the unmistakable message that failure is not acceptable. Because, truth be told, failure is not survivable. At least, not for long.

COUNTDOWN TO COPENHAGEN: 5 Weeks

Only ONE WEEK to collect the sign-ups for inclusion in The Prince's Rainforest Project rainforest book that will be sent to world leaders, so please encourage friends and family to sign up TODAY!

PLEASE SIGN HERE - www.rainforestsos.org

Copenhagen's has two hopes of making any real difference, and Bob's one of them. And if Professor Bruce Bueno de Mesquita recent LSE game theory debate is anything to go by, I'm right. Politicians will create headlines and rhetoric - everything other than real, tangible change. Why? because the costs of doing so are too high. Negotiating outcomes where no real change is required is far easier, but the net public 'impact' is still the same.

Que IDEO. The video above introduces their new initiative to encourage debate on real solutions - headed up by you, me and everyone else with good ideas.