Guess “who’s” turning 40?

FIASCOP 15 by Pierre Marcel Given our area’s notoriously schizophrenic weather you could forgive some for celebrating Earth Day a little early or late, but what if you want to observe this round-number anniversary the day of? Otherwise it can be a bit like trying to get excited about trick-or-treating on November 1st.

Here’s a special Earth Day view of our local events calendar to make it easier to find something to celebrate with. Some highlights include:

Also of interest, PBS’ American Experience will be airing a two-hour special on the history of Earth Day on Monday April 19 at 9. It should be in heavy rotation for the remainder of the week. On April 27 at 10 PM, Independent Lens is showing “Garbage Dreams” by Mai Iskander.

Welcome to the world’s largest garbage village located on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. The Zaballeen (Arabic for “garbage people”) recycle 80 percent of the trash they collect—far more than other recycling initiatives. But now multinational corporations threatens their livelihood. Follow three teenage boys born into the business who are forced to make choices that will impact the survival of their community.

Meanwhile, in Your Big Backyard

Ranger Rick The NWF is often upstaged by bigger names—pun intended—but they too strive to raise awareness and help restore balance between man and environment through various programs and publications including that magazine named for our furry friend to the right. I recently discovered that they also have a YouTube channel featuring a very brief weekly video news digest in addition to other clips such as the somewhat amusing news reel spoof below.
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Rain, rain…and more rain.

MCCALL MAGAZINE COVER, GIRL IN RAIN by George Eastman House The greater Boston metropolitan area is expected to receive another 3 inches of rain from the current storm system. This is on top of the 8-10 inches of rain that fell a little over one week ago which caused extensive flooding in cities like Waltham and Quincy. The Boston Globe reported today that during the last deluge, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority released 15 million gallons of raw sewage into Boston Harbor due to system overload. The Agency reported it hopes to not have to resort to similar action this time around, but is leery if the rain continues into the morning. On average, Boston receives about 4 inches of precipitation in the month of March (daily records); which was satisfied by last week’s storm. While one cannot unequivocally link climate change to any exceptional weather patterns, one cannot rule out the possibility either; climate change is said to increase storm intensity, particularly around coastal regions.

Go Green Awards Nominations Deadline: April 5th

It is time again for the city of Cambridge’s Go Green Awards, which recognizes businesses and organizations that take exceptional environmental actions in at least one of five areas—energy use, transportation, waste reduction, stormwater, and climate protection. Self nominations are accepted.

Last year’s 2009 award recipient’s included:

Transportation: The Charles Hotel and Irving House

Waste Reduction: Grendel’s Den and Volpe Center

Climate Protection: Genzyme and Citigate Cunningham

Energy: HRI and Cambridge Health Alliance

Stormwater Management: Forest City and Old Cambridge Baptist Church

Community Organization: HEET

The deadline for the 2010 GoGreen Awards nominations is April 5. Use the GoGreen nomination form and submit to: John Bolduc, jbolduc@cambridgema.gov, fax 617-349-4633. The nomination form can be found at: http://www.cambridgema.gov/gogreen.   If you have any questions, contact John Bolduc, jbolduc@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4628.

Save the date:  The 2010 GoGreen Awards ceremony will be held Tuesday, May 25 at 5:30 pm at the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway.

Extreme documentaries

Are there cars in heaven? by eqqman

Last week’s episode of NOVA Extreme Cave Diving was an interesting foray into “blue holes,” and the evidence they offer of paleo-climate. If you missed it, check the website to view it online. Similar, though less-breath taking evidence is offered in a recent paper from Yale.

This week’s Extreme Ice, provides a stunning and more in-depth review of the photographic documentation of glacial melting by James Balog, which we have mentioned before.

Green Globes

Penguin snow globe by abarndweller@flickr Green parenting website inhabitots gave an interesting tutorial on homemade snow globes the other day. A nice rainy-day activity, art project, or stocking stuffer for next year. These little gems could also be a nifty way of extending the life of cereal box and kids meal toy prizes. For even more reuse goodness try experimenting with water-proof confetti made from used tinsel or Easter grass instead of commercial glitter.