We’re excited to share the inspiration of Planet Earth with you. Seeing the natural world in an up-close and celebratory light is a great way to stay motivated to fight global warming. Afterall, it can be hard to remember the big picture, especially during the busy holiday season.

The BBC’s Planet Earth is an Emmy-award winning nature documentary series, and starting today, we’ll send it to you in the mail if you sign up for our green credit card. If you already have a card, we hope you’ll ask a friend to apply then watch it together. Get ready to be inspired!

–The team

This is our fourth Q&A with our esteemed advisor, Bill McKibben. He spoke near my childhood home a few nights ago, and has been almost continuously on the road raising awareness about the importance of the number 350 and building a movement to fight climate change.

If you have a question for Bill, please do send it along to askbill [AT] brighterplanet [DOT] com.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed that the financial crisis should not “weaken our resolve on climate change.” As organizations, companies, and individuals face a blue economy, does “going green” still make sense?

I fear it makes more sense than ever. It’s true it’s going to be harder to raise the money for it. On the other hand, it’s the only plausible big new source of jobs for a depressed economy–you can’t send your house to China to get the solar panel stuck on top–and it’s ultimately the best way to really save some money. i.e., once you’ve got the solar panel, the sun is free.

What is the most urgent environmental message to send to Congress under a new Obama Administration this winter?

Cut our emissions fast–but then also concentrate on building the kind of international program that offers real hope of reaching a global bargain when the world comes together to set a new treaty in December of 2009.
(This is the work Bill and his team are engaged in at 350.org)!

Does carbon pricing affect the price of gasoline?

Yes–it will go up, so people will use less. But we can rebate the money back to people so the price signal remains intact without bankrupting anyone. Here’s a good link that explains the basic idea: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/18/AR2008101801537.html

If you want to read the other Q&As with Bill, click here.

–Carolyn

I am so proud that schools are engaging children about global warming and taking action. In 2006, three boarding schools founded the Green Cup Challenge. It has already grown to include over 40 participating schools, and this year the program welcomes day schools to the Challenge. I was fortunate to have been invited to join the Green Cup Challenge preparation conference at Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.

Participating schools compete to reduce their electricity use for the month of February. The results are positive: every school’s total monthly usage was reduced, and the practices they’ve introduced resulted in ongoing savings.

Many of these schools employ environmental initiatives alongside electricity conservation such as recycling, composting, providing local food, using china and flatware rather than disposables, and sourcing renewable energy. This year, the Green Cup Challenge has joined forces with the Green Schools Alliance, a non-profit group of schools who commit to implementing environmental initiatives. These two groups should be praised for their efforts to address global warming while engaging our most important resource – our children.

At the conference, I spoke about carbon footprints, carbon offsets, and how to identify quality offset projects. The conference turnout was impressive, but the participation of the students and teachers was truly outstanding. They are well-informed and passionate. Overall, it was a wonderful success!

Please take a look at the Green Schools website and see if your school can participate.

–Ashley

One of the highlights of our experience at the Greenfestival in DC was asking people to pledge to reduce their carbon footprint, then trade out their old laces for green shoelaces. Some people really made a statement with their green shoelaces by doing a “carbon footprint dance.” Here are some of our favorites.

–Carolyn

We had a great weekend at the Washington, DC Greenfestival.

Greenfestival is a joint project of Co-op America and Global Exchange. It seeks to highlight green businesses and environmental non-for-profits that are actively pushing for a more sustainable future. The event is both celebratory and educational, providing a venue for individuals to learn about the burgeoning green economy and environmental movement.

Brighter Planet’s goal at Greenfestival was to to make carbon emissions a bit more tangible. First, we set up a 5-foot cube lined with climate change murals that represented the physical space of 14.24 pounds of carbon dioxide.

We brought 1000 pairs of green shoelaces and gave them out to those who pledged to work to reduce their carbon footprint. Our thinking was quite simple. If every time someone looks down at their shoes and sees their green shoelaces they’ll keep climate change at the top of their mind. Plus, we’re betting that bright green shoelaces will get noticed and spark conversation, bringing the topic of carbon footprints and climate change to the fore. People were so excited by the idea that a number of folks did a “climate footprint dance” for us!

We’ll follow up with video highlights later in the week, ‘till then you can check out the rest of our Greenfestival photos on our Flickr page.

–Carolyn and Robbie