Preliminary results of our oceans shows alarming amount of plastic debris

There’s a race taking place and it doesn’t result in ribbons or plaques. It’s the “Race for Water Odyssey”. Sponsored by the Race for Water Foundation, this 300 day voyage, which will travel over 40,000 nautical miles, will create the first global assessment of plastic pollution in the ocean by visiting island beaches situated in the 5 “gyres” (trash vortexes)..

First Arab Youth Orchestra Founder to Speak

Editors Note:   The following article is geared towards a local event. But the message is an important one for all of us who long for peace in this world.

Most Americans’ perception of Iraq is of a war-­torn country, a place filled with terrorism and unrest. Iraq is rarely described as a peaceful nation filled with music. Yet one young woman – Zuhal Sultan – has dedicated herself to creating just that in a very tangible way.

Next month, Sultan will speak in Redding, California, and tell the story of how music brought some measure of peace to her homeland.

Sultan is the founder and Artistic Director of National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. The orchestra – made up of 43 Arabs, Muslims and Christians (male and female) ages 14 to 29 – is the first successful youth orchestra in the Arab world.

To learn more about this amazing young woman and the barrier-crossing, peace-building orchestra she created, click here.

Homelessness Workshop Opens a Larger Dialogue

Editors Note:    Although this story is local to northern California, the issues are so widespread and important, they’re relevant to just about every community. Perhaps there’s useful information that can benefit yours.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, in 2014. 578,424 people were homeless in our country. Almost 136,000 of those were children under 18.

Some cities have taken on homelessness and are being successful. Over the past five years, Fresno has reduced homelessness by 50 percent. Over the past 10 years, Salt Lake City has seen homelessness drop sigsignificantly. It recently announced it had successfully ended chronic veteran homelessness as well.

Redding (California) Councilwoman Kristen Schreder is passionate about finding real solutions to homelessness. On Thursday, July 16^th, around 60 participants attended a workshop she hosted to brainstorm ideas that could provide answers and a clear path towards reducing our homeless population.

Make Art, Not Landfill: Recology’s Artist in Residence Program Turns 25

Carnival Masks by Dana Albany – made of wood, recycled paint and objects found at the landfill – were featured in a Recology exhibit at San Francisco Airport in 2013

25 years is an amazing anniversary to reach, but even more so for anything related to art made from landfill waste. If that statement doesn’t make sense to you, you don’t know about Recology and/or its Artist in Residence program, which turns 25 this year.

Search engine makes large strides planting trees in Africa

Deforestation and drought are issues that have become global problems. Nowhere is it more obvious than in Africa. Decades of drought have devastated parts of Burkina Faso, a country tucked between Nigeria, Mali, Senegal and Guinea in western Africa. Without water, neither people nor plants or animals have been able to survive, turning more and more of this once-fertile land into desert. Famine, disease and violent conflict have been just some of the overwhelming consequences.

But a special tree-planting method is allowing new trees to grow and survive.

Paul McCartney and the Meatless Monday movement

Going meatless isn’t anything new. Vegetarians have been doing it for ages. But with the growing concern about greenhouse gasses and a correlation to this factory farm animal waste and methane production, the Center for Biological Diversity has been encouraging people to observe Meatless Monday with their Take Extinction off Your Plate campaign.

You’re Never Too Old to Live Your Dream!

Editor’s note:       The following is not a “green” story. But perhaps the stories within it will touch and inspire you to reach out and capture the dream that you’ve always dreamed about.

Jack Kilpatrick (left), one of the Flying octogenarians, whose living his dream in his ’80’s’ photo by Debra Atlas

Life can get in the way of achieving our dreams. After a certain point, or age, many of us figure it’s too late to grasp that brass ring. But after speaking to a few octogenarian pilots at a FAA Safety Team (FAAST) training seminar I attended this past weekend, I’d say age doesn’t have to be a stumbling block.

While the large majority of the pilot attendees were over 55, many were over 65. Five were 80+, and most of them were still flying.

Click here to learn what these older pilots had to say about how and why they went after their dreams and how they’re still thrilling among those wide blue skies.