TMSOG welcomes guest Margaret Perkins, climate activist with 350NYC

Our guest on this episode is Margaret Perkins, who works on climate legislation in NYC with 350NYC. We discuss the importance of cities in the global climate fight and the C40 international coalition of cities. We talk about the need to reduce carbon emissions in buildings, and we touch on the pandemic, and the vaccine, as Margaret has a background in public health and infectious diseases. It is very important that we all take action the reduce our carbon footprint, and below, see some solutions and actions you can take. For more info go to 350NYC.org, malcolmpresents.com, thegreendivas.com, 350.org . Send us a tweet @tmshadesofgreen

CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS IN YOUR APARTMENT
Easy steps to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions that
cause climate change.

FOOD HABITS:
 Shift your diet to eat more plant-based foods
 Reduce food waste and buy foods from local producers
 Compost organic waste; find local drop-off sites here-
https://www.grownyc.org/compost

ENERGY EFFICIENCY and RENEWABLE ELECTRIC SUPPLY
 NYC passed Local Law 97 and this mandates limits on greenhouse
gas emissions in large building like Lincoln Towers by 2030
 Stay informed how you and your building must comply with this
law. https://www.newyorkbuildingenergy.com/
 Use LED light bulbs, Energy Star efficient appliances
https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal_tax_credits
 Urge your board and management company to choose a “green”
energy supply company (ESCO) that generates electricity from
wind, solar or hydro; https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/market-
insight/features/get-to-know/nyc039s-most-eco-conscious-energy-
providers/25522

MANAGE YOUR REFRIGERATOR AND AIR CONDITIONERS
 Buy brands that use non-fluorinated gases (CFCs and HFCs) as
coolants. HFCs are potent greenhouse gases. See brands here;
 https://eia-global.org/reports/20200625-hfc-free-refrigerator-list
 Dispose of old appliances according to local Dept of Sanitation
regulations: https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01792

The Many Shades of Green ZoomCast with guests Courtney Gravenese and Kevin Egolf

Finance and food are connected in various ways, as we need to have a healthy diet filled with good fruits and veggies to keep us fit, and we need to make sure the small farmers who grow our food locally, have the financial backing to keep them sustainable. Our guests Courtney Gravenese and Kevin Egolf bring their expertise to this episode, and give us insight into food and finance. Courtney is a Registered dietician, nutrition consultant and health educator. Kevin is the VP of Investor Relations at Capital Good Fund and founder of Local Farms Fund. For more information go to capitalgoodfund.org, localfarmsfund.com, malcolmpresents.com, thegreendivas.com and HudsonRiverRadio.com Follow Courtney on instagram @clgwellness and LinkedIn. Check us out on FaceBook, tweet us @tmshadesofgreen #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

The Many Shades of Green ZoomCast with guest Allison Turcan of DIG Farm

Our guest this week is Allison Turcan, the Founder and Farmer at DIG Farm, in North Salem, NY. She is also the host of the podcast, Getting Dirty, on HudsonRiverRadio.com. We chat about how small farmers are dealing with the pandemic, and the importance of educating students about growing food. Our conversation leads us to Dick Button, who is an environmental philanthropist, and we chat about her work with Farm Aid, specifically her interview with Lukas Nelson, Willie’s son. We also talk about chili peppers, and the wonderful medicinal benefits from adding spice into your life. So tune in and find your shade of green. For more info go to digfarm.org, farmaid.org. malcolmpresents.com, Hudsonriverradio.com, thegreendivas.com #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

ZoomCast with Eva Radke, CEO of ArtCube Nation

This week’s episode of The Many Shades of Green ZoomCast version features Eva Radke, CEO of ArtCube Nation. We talk about people coming together to help each other in this most unprecedented moment in history. Eva is a shining example of a wonderful human making a difference. To add some humor we touch on belly buttons! Malcolm and Eva chat about the search and use of props for films and TV now and back in the day. For more info go to ArtCubeNation.com, themanyshadesofgreen.com, malcolmpresents.com, and for more environment info go to thegreendivas.com.#RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

The Youth Will Lead the Way with guest Peter Carellini climate activist

Our guest on this episode is Peter Carellini who is a youth climate activist and has worked with Project Drawdown and works with Earth Angel NYC, a leading sustainability consultancy in film and television production. He also has a new podcast called Dawn of Tomorrow, which you can hear on MalcolmPresents.com Follow us on Facebook and twitter @tmshadesofgreen, @50ShadesofGDs, additional info at earthangel.nyc and 350NYC.org, thegreendivas.com

The Many Shades of Green ZoomCast with guest Keith Voos teacher, environmental facilitator, and workshop presenter for Pachamama and Drawdown.org

We welcome Keith Voos to the show to talk about what you can do to be a climate activist and steward of the planet. Keith is a teacher, and he has been presenting workshops for Pachamama (which means Mother Earth) and Project Drawdown. We all need to become active and take steps to be better environmental citizens. For more information, go to pachamama.org and drawdown.org. Check out malcolmpresents.com and thegreendivias.com. Tweet us @tmshadesofgreen

Food Systems, Community Gardens, and the pandemic

The current pandemic has highlighted problems with our food system, as food waste and food insecurity must be addressed more than ever. On this show Green Divas Meg, Max, Lisa and Elly delve into topics about food, how to get fresh food to communities in need, and how Community Gardens help in that area. We also discuss the need to build your immune system in the era of COVID, the Drawdown Project (drawdown.org), cows emitting methane (and no, it’s not cow farts), and the importance of growing your own food. Guest Dr. Susan Rubin talks about teaching children to garden, food pantries, gorilla gardens which helped start the Community Garden movement, and more. Check out the 50 Shades of Green Divas Podcast on Spotify, Buzzsprout, Stitcher, Apple Music, iHeart, and HudsonRiverRadio.com. Ask Alexa or Siri to play The Green Divas podcast, and check out the webpage thegreendivas.com

FEAR

FEAR by Mercy Faith (May 2020)

maybe we needed to slow down

maybe Mother Nature said enough is enough

humans are destroying the planet

by polluting the air, the land, the water

with plastics and toxic chemicals invading

our rivers, streams, oceans, lakes, mountain tops 

jungles, beaches, farms and lawns

we infringed upon the habitats of other species

killing them or turning them into trophies

something had to give, so a virus transferred

by a bat sent a plague into the world

the ME had overtaken for too long, became dominant,  

lost its way, and the WE had to take a back seat, 

now the WE is what will save us, 

as we retreat from the viral enemy

FEAR has a way to make people change their ways

yet the greed and stupidity is spreading,

we disregard death, 

human life doesn’t count, you can be sacrificed 

 ‘cause you’re old or you are a different color 

yet you still bleed red, you still die

clearly shopping is more important than living   

gotta go to the bar, gotta get a tattoo,

gotta go bowling for dollars, even though the

risk is great, only facts tell the truth

we can’t slow down, we have lost

our way, we need to respect each other

Mother Nature has taken charge, 

she is delivering a message from the universe

she is screaming at us to clean up our room,

clean up our act and clean up the planet!

or she will send bigger things to FEAR,

as this is only the beginning 

Earth Day at 50: what do we want Earth Day to look like on its 100th Anniversary in 2070?

This is a special addition of 50 Shades of Green Divas with Green Divas Meg, Lisa, Max and Elly. We have various special guests who answer the question: what actions can we take now to make the environment better in 2070, when the people of planet Earth celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Earth Day? Our guests include environmental activists in various fields including Ed Begley Jr., Raffi, Dayna Reggero, Harriet Shugarman, Seth Leitman, and more. We need to use our collective will to be active, in order to put measures in place to reduce carbon emissions. We are living in difficult times right now, but there are silver linings. Go to thegreendivas.com for more info.

SOME OF THE WORLD’S LOWLIGHTS IN MY LIFE – PHIL MARGO

I was born April 1st 1942 when World War II was almost 4 months old.  My memory goes back as far as VJ Day, the victory over Japan. I remember the block party we had on Brighton 1st Street in Brooklyn in celebration of the end of the war in August of 1945. Since then I have witnessed the following evil shit:

The killing and crippling Polio Epidemic of the forties and early fifties until the Jonas Salk Vaccine was developed through SCIENCE.

Duck and cover drills in 1949 and 1950 in my first and second grades done to make us feel safe if a bomb that could wipe out an entire city should land on our doorstep. That’ll give 7 and 8 year old kids a boost of optimism for their future. 

In June of 1950 the Korean War (deemed “a Police Action”) began and 

resulted in 5 million deaths half of which were Korean civilians. Forty-thousand American soldiers were killed and 100,000 wounded until a truce was agreed to in 1953 but no peace treaty has ever been signed.

Also in 1950, to fuel his own sick ego and gain recognition for his reelection campaign in 1952, Senator Joseph McCarthy began his “Red Scare” trumped-up witch hunt for communists in and out of the US government. Thousands lost their jobs and careers and some their lives. In March of 1954 McCarthy was verbally vanquished by Edward R. Murrow on his on Morrow’s CBS program See It Now. Subsequently, public opinion turned against Senator McCarthy and following thirty-six days of public hearings the special counsel for the Army, Joseph Nye Welch was prompted to ask McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” That question is still pertinent of many today.

The Cuban missile crisis which had the world as close to World War III as it has ever been. It was avoided by a winning combination… diplomacy and reason.

The shocking assassination of President John F. Kennedy 57 years ago and we still do not know what really happened.

In 1967 an Arab – Israeli conflict known as the Six Day War.

In 1968 the assassination of the beloved and vaunted religious leader 

Reverend Martin Luther King.

A second assassination in1968 of  Presidential candidate and Former Senator and United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy

The Viet Nam War sanctioned by many administrations and eventually  proven to be bullshit through and through

1973 another Arab Israeli war called the Yom Kippur War..

In 1973 – 1974  there was the impeachment inquiry and resignation in of the 

Presidency by Richard M. Nixon who said “I am not a crook.” Sound familiar?

Three major space program accidents in which 17 American astronauts died. Three on the ground and 14 in flight.

In December of 1981 a documentary called Warming Warning was broadcast on the Thames TV channel in the United Kingdom. It warned of the negative planetary effect of fossil fuels and stated unequivocally their ongoing use would double the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. The poisoning of Earth, our only blue and green oasis in space, continues to occur with full awareness of those who are doing it.

Considering all of the above, the current coronavirus pandemic is the scariest of all. This so mainly because, and I am quoting the former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he said about the current White House occupant, “he’s a fucking moron.”   

Other Ways to Get Together by Maxine Margo (GD Max)

The more we get together

Together, together

The more we get together

The happier we’ll be

‘Cause your friends are my friends

And my friends are your friends

The more we get together

The happier we’ll be

I learned this song in kindergarten, and while the spirit of the song

still applies, the way we get together has changed. We used to dance 

in a circle together, while singing the song. Today we Zoom, Skype or

FaceTime to help us connect to our friends, family and workplace.

We are living in uncharted waters, and very scary times, but we need to

power through the best that we can. The realities are stressful, and we have to

find time to take a breather. Even those told to shelter in place, (depends on the 

rules of  your city or town) can take a walk, as long as you socially distance 

yourself from the person in front or behind you. The rule is to stay six feet apart. 

We all need to be mindful, especially for the sake of our elders, and those 

with medical issues, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, heretofore I will call it IT.  

No one wants to get IT, no one wants to  give IT, so what can we do? I have seen 

Public Service Announcements (PSAs) by health officials and some celebs which say, 

If Sick Stay Home, If Not Sick Stay Home, with the hashtag #ALONE TOGETHER. 

Other PSAs tell you to DO THE FIVE to help stop coronavirus:

1. HANDS Wash them often for 20 seconds

2 .ELBOW Cough into it

3. FACE Don’t touch it

4. FEET Stay more than 3-6ft apart

5. FEEL sick? Stay home, call your primary doctor

We all have to do our part. State and local governments are doing their best

to reduce contact of their citizens. In many areas restaurants, bars, gyms and other

non-essential businesses have been told to close. This is an unprecedented moment in

history, but we have to take this seriously. We will get through IT! 

There is some good news within the context of IT. Mother Nature is getting a break of sorts.

Data obtained by the European Space Agency (ESA) gathered by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite which tracks air pollution recorded a sharp decrease in emissions that coincides with the lockdowns in Italy and China. Earth Systems Professor at Stanford, Marshall

Burke stated that two months of pollution reduction “likely has saved the lives of 4,000 kids under 5 and 73,000 adults over 70 in China. 

While the spread of Corona Virus is a top concern and a top priority, seeing the reduction in emissions indicates that people are taking steps to reduce their exposure. Another side story

is that the water in Venice, Italy is getting clearer, and dolphins have been spotted in the canals.

So now more than ever we need to take care of ourselves and take care of each other. 

Seek out a walk in nature, take a forest bath, or a stroll by the water. Check on your neighbors and your loved ones. Be prudent, be calm, be mindful, so you don’t get IT! Right now the new norm is #ALONETOGETHER and if we follow that mantra the happier we will be.

REFERENCES

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2020/coronavirus-safety-and-readiness-tips-for-you.html

space.com/italy-coronavirus-outbreak