I shot this editorial back in November in Tennessee and man it was cold (look it my goosebumps though my smile belies how fricking freezing I was!) You may remember from my video clips from The Model Diaries here.
The Daily Green has all the videos, photos and acceptance speeches from the inaugural “Heart of Green” Awards and festivities – but you can take a quick peek at some of the photos and acceptance speech below. I do definitely want to thank Hearst again for the award and the beautiful ceremony. Highlights from that night: Greg Perry, the school teacher, brought everybody to their feet. He’s fought paralysis, cancer and continues to plug away at the green message with his students by helping build the most environmental public school system from the inside out; talking with Bob Woodruff and commending him for his comprehensive coverage of PowerShift09.org; and meeting Constance, Libby, etc. the Green Team over at E-Bay.
What else is groovy? I have the actual Heart of Green award sitting on the top shelf of my driftwood cabinet next to the Cosmopolitan “Fun, Fearless Female” Award. I like when the sunlight enters the room because it hits the glass in a way that makes them dazzle in the white light. The sun doesn’t have quite the same effect on my bug net, but . . . all objects weren’t created equally…
On April 23rd, 2009 I headed to the Hearst Towers for the First Annual “Heart of Green” Awards. It was a small ceremony sponsored by Ebay’s Green Team, whom I had a pleasure of meeting. A private dinner followed afterwards, which was really nice. I struck up a conversation with Bob Woodruff on the climate change rally forming on Capitol Hill the following day.
Winners included: Frances Beinecke of NRDC (Lifetime Achievement); Greg Perry (Local Hero) and so inspirational; Roger Doiron who inspired Michelle Obama to plant an organic garden at the White House (Groundbreaker); Deirdre Imus (The Guardian); Summer Rayne Oakes (The Pathfinder); NYC (The Visionary); Planet Green (The Influencer); Gloria Reuben (The Truth Teller) for WaterKeeper; Alicia Silverstone (The Eco-Original) for her vegan ways; and Maria Menounos (The Star Connection).
For the fashion fiends: I’m wearing a re-created vintage dress by Douchette Duval; vegan heels by Charmone; necklace by Ecco-Domani award winner Monique Pean; sustainably-harvested wood bangle by a.d. schwarz; and a vintage silk bag that I picked up at a local Brooklyn vintage shop that has recently closed 
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LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability) Conference has just launched the videos from our discussions. Check out a little bit about the launch of Discovery Network’s Planet Green and the questions that were asked in the audience.
View the videos HERE.
In between doing some Planet Green events I’ve been filming for G Word, one of Discovery’s new shows. Here’s a recap on one of my favorite episodes. Stay tuned for some clips, bloopers, and the stuff Discovery doesn’t want you to see!
About Me and “G”
I guess they know I’m comfortable in the grit and the glamour because that is exactly what I’ll be covering for G Word-a show about all the oddities and goodies of “green.” You can watch me tackle ocean trash, dance on top of windmills, sniff out garbage, and plod through cow poo. Unfortunately I’m still waiting for the glamorous part of my job to kick in…
“I imagine putting up a windmill is quite a big undertaking,” I said to Ned Hall, President of AES Wind Energy. “Yes, very much so,” he responded. “So when one is going up, do you notify the community that you are having a big erection?” Oh yes I did, I said it. Bam, Bam, Bam. (joke I got compliments of W. LaDuke)
A windmill kisses the wind.
Journey to the Center of a Windmill
Where: Abilene, TX—the “Friendly Frontier” of wind energy and the U.S. city with the most churches per square mile (as told to me by a Wiccan cab driver who picked us up from the airport).
What: Explore wind energy and what it means to us
Why: Because gas isn’t cheap or green and wind seems like a cool, viable alternative
“It’s kinetic art,” Ned Hall, President of AES Wind Energy said to me as we looked out over the miles and miles of magnificent white wind turbines. The rotating blades were hypnotizing, leisurely spinning their 120ft arms in the wind. The blades may only turn 20 revolutions per minute, but the 20 mph winds were enough to whip our hard hats off as we craned our necks David-&-Goliath-style to ogle at the impressive structures that easily rival the Statue of Liberty in height.
The producers told me I’ll be climbing to the top of the windmills. Ha! Good thing I didn’t tell them I am terrified of heights until we were in the safety training. They seemed pretty pissed that I didn’t let them in on that important tidbit of information beforehand. Hell, I didn’t even know you could climb up the belly of a windmill. What’s in there anyway? How does it convert wind to electricity? And what does it look like from the top of a turbine? I guess my curiosity totally outweighed my acrophobia, because I had a blast climbing to the top to salute the breeze.
What can you do?
“I stand erected”
These are the scenes Planet Green didn’t want you to see…Coming soon…Coming soon. Coming soon.
At a windmill construction site in Abilene, TX
This is how big they are!
Free, clean energy: Wind and Solar!
Line ‘em up!
Energy Action, pin-up style
Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a Campus Climate Challenge pin.
Filming at the wind turbine erection site.
Shafted! Yah, I’m not just showing you this for posterity’s sake. I actually climbed up this monster! 250 ft into the air on the belly of a windmill. How about that!?!
That’s me in the top of the wind turbine, standing on the gears.
And this is my view from the top…Prepare yourself…
My view from the top! Windmills as far as the eye can see.
The answer is a resounding “YES!” I did get to hang over the edge of the windmill’s nose.
Lovely view. Lovely view.
