Archive
Earthgauge Radio April 19: Earth Day Special and Climate Impacts Day
Earth Day 2012 - "Mobilize the Earth"
Full program audio:
On Earthgauge Radio this week, it’s our Earth Day Special. Click the audio player above to hear the whole show. We have 2 interviews on today’s program:
- Jed Goldberg, President of Earth Day Canada
- Jamie Henn of 350.org and climatedots.org on their Connect the Dots campaign and Climate Impacts Day on May 5
Earthgauge Radio is broadcast every other Thursday morning at 7:00-8:00 AM on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa. Right click here to download today’s full show.
Earth Day is this Sunday, April 22 and it marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. So I spoke with the president of Earth Day Canada, Jed Goldberg, who told us about the importance of Earth Day and what is being planned for the 2012 edition.
Jed Goldberg interview (right click here to download):
Also on the program, I spoke with Jamie Henn of the organization 350.org about their Connect the Dots campaign and Climate Impacts Day, which is coming up on May 5. Connect the Dots is a campaign to draw the connection between extreme weather and climate change. Climate Impacts Day will bring together thousands of communities to take action to highlight the dramatic climate change impacts we are witnessing around the world so we’ll talk to Jamie about what they have planned for May 5 and how you can get involved in planning your own event or joining an event already being planned.
Jamie Henn interview (right click here to download):
We also had our usual segment with Ecology Ottawa who updated us on local environmental events and campaigns. And we heard the week’s round-up of international eco-news from Deutsche Welle Living Planet.
Remember that Earthgauge Radio is podcast on iTunes if you type earthgauge into the search bar, you’ll find us. Contact us at . Facebook address is www.facebook.com/EarthgaugeRadio and Twitter handle @earthgaugeCA. Please do get in touch if you have story ideas, a comment on something you’ve heard or want to get involved or contribute to the show.
Upcoming local environmental events (courtesy of Ecology Ottawa):
Interview with Earthday Canada Hometown Hero Jonathan Glencross
Click the audio player to hear my interview with Jonathan Glencross, a recent graduate of McGill University who has been named the National winner of the Earth Day Canada Hometown Hero Award for 2011 for his remarkable contributions to sustainability initiatives on the McGill campus.
His achievements over the past four years include the creation of a new fund for community-based sustainability projects. The fund has already approved 35 projects from the $800,000 that it receives annually – more than double what is collected by similar green funds from all other Quebec universities combined. Projects funded to date include a volunteer-run urban gardening project, a program that distributes produce by bike, an industrial composter, a student-run bike collective, an on-campus farmersmarket and more.
Glencross also played a leading role in the creation of a new Office of Sustainability at the university, which now employs three full-time staff and 11 student interns. He coauthored McGill’s first Greening Events Guide; helped coordinate a Rethink Your Curriculum Challenge for students; and co-founded the McGill Food Systems Project. “Before we existed,” he says, “no one knew where our food was coming from, let alone if it was being grown sustainably.”
If this wasn’t enough, last year, Glencross wrote a proposal that led to the creation of an annual interdisciplinary field-study semester focused on applied sustainability, all while being a full-time student and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life.
Click here to read more about Jonathan or here to watch his presentation on sustainability on Tedx.
2011 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Commitment to the Environment Award Winner – Laure Waridel
At the request of Alternatives Journal, I had the privilege of speaking recently with Laure Waridel who is
this year’s winner of the Earth Day Canada Outstanding Commitment to the Environment Award.
Laure Waridel was one of MacLean’s magazine’s 25 young Canadians who are already changing our world. After attending the Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992, Waridel helped found Equiterre, a Quebec non-profit organization with a mission to build a grassroots movement that promotes individual and collective choices that are sustainable and socially responsible. She is an inspiring social entrepreneur, activist, writer, environmentalist, and radio and TV commentator.
Her books to date include ‘Coffee with Pleasure: Just Java and World Trade‘, ‘Achetez c’est voter‘ and ‘L’envers de l’assiette‘. In 2008, Equiterre introduced the Laure Waridel Bursary for students committed to pursuing and disseminating research on environmental and social action. This year the bursary is worth $9000. It recognizes Waridel’s outstanding contribution to advancing and disseminating research on the environmental and social issues promoted by Equiterre with a view towards sustainable development.
Laure hold a degree in sociology and international development from McGill University and a Masters degree in law and environmental studies from the University of Victoria. She is currently doing a PhD at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.
To download the interview, right click here and select ‘Save as’ or ‘Save target as.’
