According to CNN, one billion (1,000,000,000) people are expected to celebrate Earth Day today. One billion people around the world simultaneously coming together as activists for the same cause is kind of a big deal.

I saw Thomas Friedman speak at PSU a couple months ago, and he said “I’m so sick of Earth Day events- my conscious is raised”. Mine is too, but I’m still going to join the party.

If you had a choice between getting something (more or less) for free that is energy efficient, or paying for something of comparable quality that takes 2000 time as much energy to produce, which would you chose?

Americans made this decision 33 billion times last year. In this case, being “green” is cheap, and 33 billion times we decided to throw our money away instead.

PhysOrg posted an article a couple days ago filled with quick-hit scientific data about the production and consumption of plastic water bottles in America. Single-use plastic water bottles are clogging our landfills, and floating in the massive gyres in the Pacific ocean. This is mind boggling when most people have easy access to clean drinking water that is tested and regulated to ensure it is safe to drink.  33 billion times a year we decide that the water inside the polyethylene terephthalate bottles is either more convenient or better for us.

Just past the advertisement for Fiji bottled water, the commentary after the article is filled with people defending why bottled water has a place in the world. I am all for filtering water, but I will never be convinced that producing 200 billion liter’s of bottled water per year is anything but a complete waste of energy.

Almost one year to the day since Alex last blogged about our adventurous friends from Epicocity, we’d like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Trip and his crew for winning the Best Professional Documentary award at the 2009 National Paddling Film Festival .

“A River’s Last Breath” follows two rafters through the great Bend of China’s Yangtze River as they help people understand and see for themselves how important it is to protect China’s rivers. This paddling film is different than most because… “the rafters will not be the first to paddle this white water gem, due to a series of 3 large dams currently under construction, they will be the last.” Watch footage from this award winning documentary in our video Rivers in Demand and see for yourself the dramatic landscapes that will soon be under 150 meters of water.

I tried contacting Trip to say congratulations, but he’s on a 22 day trip through the Grand Canyon. I’m looking forward to watching footage from his trip down a river with a long healthily life ahead of it.

It’s time to start thinking about summer and the things we put in the back of our minds for six months out of the year long days and warm weather. We officially launched our new Spring product line today, ideal for maximizing your comfort and style in the warmer months.

Let us be the first to welcome you to Spring.

I bought Big Pink in Reno back in 2004. If you’re the girl in Reno that sold her to me, you can stop worrying, she’s very happy here in Portland.

Our relationship began when we logged a few unusual miles circling the playa together. Since then, she’s carried me and my buddies around on her pegs, has yet to get a flat, and rides smooth even when I’m wearing girl shoes.

Her latest addition is the studded tire option for the rare icy Portland snow days. During “Arctic Blast 2008” (for those of you not from Portland, you must say this in a deep voice with lots of intensity), Mark, Ian and I put zip-ties on Big Pink. I rode around SW Portland delivering presents all afternoon on ice covered roads and watched as cars struggled at each intersection to stop or start moving.

They say the true test of any relationship is to go through all four seasons together. I think I hit the relationship jackpot.

With funding for non-profits freezing up in the chilly economy, we’re helping our customers give Gifts of Change. From now through December 15th we’re donating 10% of every sale”up from our usual 2%”to our Partners For Change.

Here are a few more companies giving back in creative ways. Feel free to add to the list, I still have Christmas shopping left to do!

1. GOOD Magazine  – Entire subscription cost goes directly to a non-profit organization that you choose
2. Tom’s Shoes – For every pair of shoe’s you buy, Tom’s gives one pair of shoes to a child in need (See photo above)
3. Horny Toad  – Donate used clothing to your favorite charity and get 30% off your next purchase

Now that we’ve announced our New Partners for Change Program, we’d like to re-introduce each of our Partners. We will share examples that are representative of why we asked each of these progressive environmental and humanitarian organizations to be our partners.

The first one I’d like you to meet is Mercy Corps. Since it was founded 29 years ago, they’ve done work in 106 countries and have over 3,500 employee’s. Mercy Corps mission is “to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.”

Our relationship to Mercy Corps goes back to the early days of Nau when we first put together our Partners for Change program in 2006. Mercy Crops North American headquarters is here in our hometown of Portland, OR and is well-loved by our community for the work they do here in the U.S and overseas.

Since I started working with Nau almost two years ago, I’ve spent many hours perusing
through the endless amount of articles and information posted on the Mercy Corps website about their programs. Recently I found a project; the Community Health and Advancement Initiative (CHAI), that really sparked my interest. I think this program exemplifies the kind of social impacts that are possible when people get together to collectively work toward creating social change.

In 2002 Tazo Tea another Portland based company, partnered with Mercy Corps and launched the CHAI program in Darjeeling India. This specific region in India has some of the finest tea in the world and accounts for much of Tazo’s tea supply. The CHAI program focuses on three things for the garden groups in Darjeeling: improved water quality and access to clean water, vocational training, and development and implementation of self-governing bodies.

The particularly intriguing part of this program is how it’s funded; tea growers, traders, and brokers, each contribute a portion of their Tazo sales to support the program. The combine contributions result in a total of about 11% of the final sale of the tea going to the CHAI program. No one company in the supply chain is burdened with the entire 11% contribution; which makes it manageable for everyone involved. Tyson (Nau’s graphic designer) and I particularly like this one because the local communities in Darjeeling are supported by both Tazo as well as local businesses.

Mercy Corps is just one of many organizations finding new ways to improve the lives of people around the world. We believe in the work they’re doing, and hope you do too.

From San Francisco to Sydney, 200 parking spaces in more than 50 cities around the world went from money making street parking spots to public parks for one entire day. PARK(ing) day was founded in 2005 by REBAR and The Trust For Public Lands as a way to promote public parks. For me, it was the celebration of a day where bikers, walkers, and public transportation users win, and cars lose.

Glen Kertz from Valcent Products found a way to meet all of our energy demands for the entire United States in an area 1/10th the size of New Mexico. To good to be true?

The Big Apple welcomed Nau with open arms last month, and I’d like to thank everyone for all of the excellent recommendations. While I didn’t spend much time getting to know the greener side of New York, I did spend some time getting to know New Yorkers. On our last night in town a server told us that New Yorkers who visit Portland are never the same. Here are a few things I learned while visiting New York:

1. Shoes. It’s all about the Shoes.
2. If your eyes are open, art is everywhere.
3. Don’t miss a beat or blink an eye when the wildest thing happens right in front of you. Take it in and keep moving.
4. “Lanes” are relative.
5. Eating anything less than amazing food, regardless of the time or your budget, is totally unacceptable.
6. While politeness has its place, being direct is so much more efficient.
7. Women’s clothes look just as good on Men
8. There is a reason why the restaurants name is “Peep”.
9. Respect moving vehicles. They do not, and will not, stop or slow down if you step in front of one.
10. Always look your best because when you least expect it, you could bump into an old college crush. It’s a big city, but a small world.