Here's a pic that was actually taken out in west Texas at my uncle's farm.
Hello,
My name is Jessica and I live in Denison, TX. Even though I won’t get to meet yall I just wanted to say thanks so much for doing what ya’ll are doing. I heard about ya’ll from a website that I can’t remember what it was about while looking up some info for someone. Also my younger brother is a fan of Matt Hill and then to find out he was part of it was pretty cool. I thought it was really neat to see what ya’ll were doing and have kept up with the site from the time ya’ll left Vancouver. Thanks so much for letting us see your adventures!
I’ve actually got my parents and siblings turning off lights, water, and now we’re going to try the recycling thing. I was so excited to find the biodegradable Christmas name tags that were embeded with wildflower seeds and hopefully next year I will have convinced all my family members to use them. Yall have inspired so many already and I feel it’s especially important now than ever to teach the younger generations the importance of being “green.” I have yet to decide on what to major in college and I’m leaning towards teaching just so that I can inspire students to help out the planet.
Anyways, I just wanted to give ya’ll a big Texas THANK YALL! Hope ya’ll enjoy the big Lone Star State, especially the city of Austin. It’s really a neat, diverse city with a lot of culture. Just beware of this crazy Texas weather and more importantly the crazy Texas drivers! Take care, have loads of fun, and God bless!
Thanks so much for everything yall are doing!
Jessica
Hello Run for One Planet Community!
The fifteenth issue of the Run for One Planet newsletter, Planet Action, is now ready. Please visit the Run for One Planet website to download the latest issue as a PDF (http://www.runforoneplanet.org/newsletter.php). In this second US edition of the newsletter, read about southern hospitality and how Matt and Steph fought to stay on the road due to rough road conditions as well as how they, and Simon, almost got blown away in a tornado!
You’ll be happy to know that the tour is on its last leg and that Matt and Steph are on their way home back home to Vancouver, BC, Canada in only 16 short weeks.
Don’t forget to take the Action Challenge and encourage others you know to do the same as a single or as a group (http://www.runforoneplanet.org/actionchallenge.php). It’s a new year, so make it a resolution to adopt 1 or more ACTIONS for our earth.
Best wishes in 2009,
Nancy Kwan
by Chris Tilley
Earth Hour Video (www.gogreentube.com)
5. Turn Off the Lights
It’s easy to see when we leave a light on – so just switch it off. And while you’re at it, switch all your light bulbs to Compact Fluorescents (CFLs). These new bulbs last up to seven times longer, and use much less energy than all others. While plugged in, all your other electronics are silently stealing energy. Power transformers we have for battery chargers can use a lot of energy even when they’re doing nothing. Rather than unplug them, why not put them all on a power strip you can easily switch off?
Earth Hour was started in 2007 in Sidney, Australia and 2.2 million people turned off their lights for one hour. Last year 50 million people around the world turned off their lights for one hour. This year the goal in for 1 billion people in 1000 cities to turn off their light for one hour.
So if every one of those people only turns off one light and it is and energy saving CFL bulb we will save 13,000 Mwh. The largest carbon dioxide emitting power plant in the US is the Scherer Power Plant.(source) They operate four 880 MW coal plants.(source) So that means that that 13,000 Mwh is equivalent to idling almost 15 of those 880 MW unit for an hour. Using the numbers from Carma, Scherer create about 1 tonne of carbon dioxide per Mwh. So that mean a savings of 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This a very conservative estimation
That is not really the point of Earth Hour. Earth Hour is about taking action and responsibility, of showing that we care about the earth. Its a powerful message to our leaders that we are concerned about global warming and the environment. Governments are taking notice, and a number have endorsed Earth Hour. Having 1 billion turn off their lights will be and incredible message for the whole earth to hear. A bonus for those kids in big cities this would be a great time to do some backyard astronomy. With the lights out the light pollution will be minimal.
Earth Hour is 8:30PM Saturday 28 March 2009. For more information and and to sign up go to www.earthhour.org
Take This Action Challenge!
Sixteen weeks left to connect with more “green kids” to teach more “green education”, all by Steph and I connecting with the pavement for another 112 days. That’s right folks, we calculated (ok Steph calculated) and realized we have a mere 112 days left out here to inspire and use what’s affectionately now known as, “the trickle UP effect”. Us teaching kids to live green, they, using the trickle up effect to teach their parents “green education”.
Our time in Houston was again, full of more schools and more moments sharing our message to live green by taking one 1st step. We were supported for 4 nights at a very special B ‘n B called “Modern B ‘n B”. Local hero, Lisa Thompson, shares her amazing and unique house with many regulars who come back to stay as well as people like us looking for a shower after 9 days of marathons. Lisa set us up for the whole time in Houston and made us feel (here comes is again), like old friends. Please check out her B ‘n B and if you’re ever in Houston, stop by. You’ll never want to leave. www.modernbb.com
Our environmental education marathon included stops in 5 schools. The Regis School of the Sacred Heart, KIPP Polaris Academy for Boys, Shlenker Jewish School, Yorkshire Academy and KIPP Liberation College. Every single school welcomed us in with enthusiasm, enquiries about how our feet and bodies were holding up, and an eagerness to join their favorite “Ed” on-stage to help “sparkly Stephanie” take the Action Challenge! Steph even went to dinner with a family who we made friends with and captured some footage that speaks volumes about why were’ out here. (But you have to wait for the DVD to see it…)
I even got to fulfill a boyhood dream and spend the afternoon being Matt the Space Geek at the Johnson Space Center, courtesy of Steph (for my 14th birthday). Ok, my 41st birthday. I get the numbers mixed up. A separate blog will follow on how NASA is also paving the way towards better stewardship for the Earth.
So everyone reading this, we hope you’ll celebrate with us as we enter our final sweep for the next 16 weeks, 112 run days and most likely, 4 more pairs of runners. Let’s get Environmental Action rockin’ and use the power you posses, to teach those around you by your example of green living!
Every Friday we will now have a countdown going on for the number of weeks (and days) we have left until we are running back over the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC and unlacing our final pair of shoes!
With plans in development (very exciting TBA!), it is looking like we will be back home on May 8th. Putting our countdown at (drum roll please…)
16 WEEKS TO GO! 112 DAYS!