Lianne Sorkin has traveled the world and has taken action to create solutions to climate change, social justice and violence against women. She has over 40 years experience as a live and virtual event executive producer, meeting facilitator and international project manager for the United Nations. She has lived in Japan, and is fluent in Japanese, and was the UN’s liaison for the Secretary General of the 4th World Women’s Conference in Beijing to the First Ladies, including Hillary Clinton. Lianne works with Project Drawdown, Pachamama Alliance, and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. For more info go to drawdown.org, pachamama.org, 350NYC.org and HudsonRiverRadio.com
Listen to “The Many Shades of Green” on Spreaker.Category: Non-Profits
TMSOG welcomes Don Raskopf, we talk about the Clearwater organization, Pete Seeger, and what it was like to be a poll worker in the 2020 election
Our guest Don Raskopf is a long time member of the organization Clearwater, which was co-founded in 1966 by legendary singer and activist Pete Seeger. Don talks about the work that Clearwater is doing to help clean up the Hudson River, via the Clearwater sloop, and his relationship with Pete Seeger. We talk about how Clearwater has helped educate thousands of children on environmental issues and why it is so important to promote youth education and outreach. Don is also a member of the Beacon Sloop Club, which fits in with his experience as a carpenter and boat builder. He is active in Beacon4BlackLives, and was a first time poll worker in the last election. We discussed his experience with first time voters, and he had a wonderful story about the passion of those voters. For more information go to clearwater.org. Check out malcolmpresents.com for more shows, and go to thegreendivas.com for info on all things “green”.
1810 The Greening of the Entertainment industry with Earth Angel, Film Biz Recycling, ArtCube Nation and Rock and Wrap It Up
Yes, the film and TV industries are wasteful, but… with the help of some wonderful people and organizations, the landfills are less full of discarded sets and food, and therefore, as the slogan created by our guest Eva Radke so aptly puts it, “Not in a Dumpster.” We talk to Emellie O’Brien, founder of Earth Angel, Samita Wolfe, Director of Film Biz Recycling in Savannah, Eva Radke, founder and CEO of ArtCube Nation, and Syd Mandelbaum, founder of Rock and Wrap it Up, about their roles in keeping the entertainment industry cleaner and less wasteful. We also touch on the topic of asteroids, green screens and raccoons. Find out what the Amazing Spiderman-2, VINYL, Elementary, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and 30 Rock have in common… hint green and sustainable TV and film sets.
For more info check out: Earthangel.nyc, Filmbizrecycling.org, ArtCubeNation.com, RockandWrapItUp.org and TheGreenDivas.com
1719 Merry Merry and Small Victories
Saying farewell to 2017 in our year end show. It’s been a tough year, yet it had positive moments. Dedicating the good things in life, in honor of my brother Mitch, who passed away during the Thanksgiving holiday. He will be greatly missed. His music and art will fill the universe forever.
With all the tumult, we have had many Small Victories, and with the help of Stephanie Palumbo and Alison Diviney, we will learn about more Small Victories in the coming year. Go to celebratesmallvictories.com, thetokens.com and thegreendivas.com for more info.
Green Diva Meg and I (Green Diva Max) wish everyone a Merry, Merry and a Happy, Healthy New Year!
#1620 Rock and Wrap It Up
This episode of 50 Shades of Green Divas features Syd Mandelbaum, founder of Rock and Wrap it Up, an anti-poverty think tank, which works to feed those in need by taking unserved food from concert and sporting events, and delivering what is collected to local food charities. This not only helps feed those who go hungry, it minimizes waste in landfills, and thus reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The organization is also working to feed veterans and get needed supplies to women who cannot afford feminine products. For more information go to rockandwrapitup.org
#1617: Green Sex For Climate’s Sake
Green Sex for Climate’s Sake (Yes, Green Sex is a shade of green)
There is no single solution for climate change…but separating sex from childbearing represents an under appreciated opportunity to forestall climate disaster…for the climate, family planning’s potential benefits are profound.
Those are the words of my guest this week, Alisha Graves, who is the co-founder of the OASIS Initiative (a project of UC, Berkeley which focuses on reducing population growth and poverty in the Sahel region of Africa). Her recent article, “Green Sex for Climate’s Sake,” debates the link between carbon emissions and population, and the need to educate young women, as well as young men, about contraception, family planning and health. For more information go to: oasisinititative.berkeley.edu and projectdrawdown.org.
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#1616: Anti-Poaching Game Changers
“Green” eco-warriors are working to protect rhinos and elephants, which are on the verge of extinction, as they are killed by poachers for their horns and tusks. My guest this week, Damien Mander, founder of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation, is working to train rangers in the preserves of Africa, via legal and direct tactics, to bring poachers to justice. He is a vegan and believes that animals suffer tremendously when they are raised for consumption, which is also a major contributor to climate change. Damien is starring in a James Cameron film called “The Game Changers”, which you can check out by going to gamechangers.com. For more information on the work of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation, go to iapf.org
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1614: Accelerating Appalachia
My guest this week is Sara Day Evans, Founder of Accelerating Appalachia, which provides social and economic assistance to nature based and local businesses in the vast region of Appalachia, which spans 12 states and has a population of 25 million people. It is one of the most bio-diverse regions on the globe, and new businesses that are based on food, farming and forests are providing jobs and promoting sustainability. Nature Based Businesses (NBB’s) are part of a movement to protect the earth, and maintain the beauty of the Appalachian region. To quote Ms. Evans “My advice to someone thinking of starting an accelerator or a business is this: Be resilient, stubborn, and focused, and love what you do.” For more info go to acceleratingappalachia.org
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John Parker – Riverkeeper
Riverkeeper, the guardian of the water, land and air celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, and it is fitting to have friend of the show, John Parker, Director of Legal Programs at Riverkeeper, as my guest this week. We discuss all the great work Riverkeeper has done over these last five decades, as well as what they will continue to do to preserve and protect the environment. Keeping the waterways vibrant, and our drinking water clean, is essential to the health and well being of the citizens in New York State and beyond. To find out more about this great organization, go to Riverkeeper.org.
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What the Climate Accord Means at Home
By Susan Lutz
With the agreement of a landmark accord reached between 196 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and commit to truly working towards change, the planet has a chance to survive. We have a shot at making it.
Something happened when I heard the news of the accord. I didn’t rush to look up all the details of the agreement. Instead of wondering about the facts, I felt a sense of peace. It was as if what we do on the local level and in our homes really does matter. When nations all over the globe decided to finally get to work on these issues, get our priorities straightened out, and look the problem in the eye, it made the daily tasks I do in my home actually feel like they make a difference.
If the nations had fought to no avail, looked the other way, or ignored the problem, and gone home without an agreement, I think all of us would have felt a little differently. Perhaps in a subtle way, we might have stopped working so hard. We might have lost hope. It is hard to fight such a large battle without the unity of nations and without leadership at the highest levels.
Now, I can look again at my habits that help curb waste, lower greenhouse gases, and bring stability and life into our existence. Sorting out trash and recycling, and using that glass bottle over and over again, doesn’t seem like wasted effort. Taking the bus or carpooling feels like a good choice. Buying less stuff finally feels like it adds up to a real solution.
With acknowledgement at the highest levels, we can now look optimistically towards our future. It’s time to look into new ways to lower my impact on the planet. None of this change is easy, but we’ve spent too much time taking the easy way out. There’s something we can do every day to change things for the better.
Now that the big players are part of the game, we have a chance at winning.
WECAN: Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network
This weeks episode takes us to the Global Women’s Climate Justice Day of Action at the UN, sponsored by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). This event was attended by women from over 50 countries. To have such a collection of amazing women in one place, who presented stories of courage and resilience in combating climate change was deeply touching. Women play a key role in adapting solutions to climate change, and it was an honor to speak with WECAN founder Osprey Lake, environmentalist visionary Sally Ranney, as well as Neha Misra founder of Solar Sister, Harriet Shugarman Executive Director of ClimateMama, Executive Director of CELF Katie Ginsberg and student Coreena, and Patricia Gualinga-Montalvo, Indigenous Leader of Ecuador, whose interview was translated by Amazon Watch’s Executive Director Leila Salazar-López. For more information visit wecaninternational.org
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COP21
“Between its celebrations of privilege, and the angst of its reckonings, human life gathers unto itself a chaos of contradictions… If we are ceaseless tamperers, we are also from time to time unobtrusive, Though we shout, so may we whisper.” (Michael Charles Tobias, quote from his work, After Eden: History, Ecology and Conscience) My guest this week is Michael C. Tobias, President of Dancing Star Foundation, who is a global ecologist, humanitarian, explorer, author, filmmaker, educator and animal rights activist. 195 nations are set to converge in Paris, a city recently struck by incomprehensible acts of terrorism, for the COP 21 (Conference of Parties), with the hopes of reaching an agreement to to set limits on carbon emissions to reduce the detrimental effects of global warming. Rich and poor nations must gather to form partnerships to be agents of change, rather than agents of destruction. Negative ideology has to be redirected, and ethics, compassion and morality, along with science and technology must lead the way to solutions. For more information go to www.dancingstarfoundation.org
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