BiG: Believe in Green: 10 Day Challenge, 10 Big Thinkers (August 15-24th 2010)

Dear Passionate People-Lover,

With all this talk about oil spills and ozone layers it can be a pretty overwhelming to talk about “saving the planet”. Especially when you consider the fact that so many of us are struggling to save ourselves! The fact is, the rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, ADD, autism and infertility are rising as fast as the rates of green house gas emissions!

This is no coincidence!

It’s no accident that in a world of soda pop, plastic wrap, and microwaveable meals, we’ve started to see a lot more diabetes, arthritis, obesity and even cancer taking the lives of the people we love. Let’s look at the facts:

• World Watch Magazine reported that over 50% of annual greenhouse gas emissions come from animals raised for food.
• A UN Report supports the fastest solution to reducing ghg emissions is transition to a plant-based diet.
• Eating a plant-based diet dramatically reduces the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

Essentially, if we add up all the cars and factories and things that give off toxic gases it still doesn’t beat the greenhouse gas emissions coming from the cows, pigs, chickens, goats and other animals we use for “food.” And the bottom line is that if we stopped using these animals for food, we would improve our overall health and well-being.

I see a win-win situation happening here!

Maybe before we start saving up for solar panels, we could sprout clover and just start eating more fruits and vegetables? Maybe instead of spending millions of dollars in environmental debates, we could plant Swiss chard and wheat grass in our window sills?

Meet Two Young Girls Making a Difference:

These two young girls are members of the Lower East Side Girls’ Club. They are doing some pretty cool things to make the world a better place to be.

One of their projects is a bicycle-powered blender. They take this to different schools in low-income districts and teach other kids about the importance of eating well and getting exercise.

They’re living in the Lower East Side of New York City where most kids’ lunch has the nutritional value of playdough. The children in this area don’t spend a lot of time hearing about the importance of proper nutrition, fitness and health. And unfortunately, their parents know that soda pop is cheaper than broccoli and fresh organic pears.

With a bit of support and extra funding these girls along with the rest of the members of the Lower East Side Girls Club could help get this information out to a lot more people and change the way our future leaders think about food and reduce a few greenhouse gas emissions while they’re at it!

The BiG Idea:

We think the world needs more good news.

We don’t need any more depressing conversations about oil spills. We need community, cooperation, and something to believe in to help inspire hope in a better tomorrow!! We want to believe in something better than the headlines on the newspaper.

Take a moment to look in the eyes of the little people out there.

They are the next generation. They’re the ones who will be left behind to take responsibility for a world we can only imagine. But we can start now to create a better place for them. And so we’ve decided that one of the best things we can do to make a difference is to encourage people to eat a lot more local fruits, vegetables, and green food AND support the education programs that create change for the people who need it most.

Kids!

Enter the Green Smoothie: Meet Victoria: The Queen of Green Smoothies

Victoria Boutenko is most known for her kitchen experiments that led to the discovery of “green smoothies”. Challenged with health problems and committed to the raw food diet, Victoria set to work on finding solutions by researching a healthier way to eat and live. Blending greens like kale, spinach, parsley and other leafy greens led to dramatic discoveries and she’ll share more about those and give tools for green smoothie living in this preparatory interview to be shared with all participants of the program.

If you’ve never experienced the pleasure of a green smoothie, then you’re in for a surprise. It’s healthy, it’s easy to make and everyone loves them! If you can buy local fruits, leafy greens and you have a half-decent blender, then you can make yourself the most popular health drink out there these days!

In honor of International Green Smoothie Day August 15th, 2010

We’ve put together a 10-day green smoothie challenge, and we’re inviting 10 BiG thinkers to share their most inspirational wisdom for green living with us over 10 days. We’re giving 100% of the money we receive for admission to this event to the Lower East Side Girls Club.

Here’s the deal:

• 10 days of green smoothies
• 10 inspiring interviews with BiG thinkers
• 10 dollars to participate
• 100% of the registration fee goes to support the Lower East Side Girls Club’s and their health and nutrition program.

The BiG Objective:

To raise $10 000 to support funding of the Lower East Side Girls’ Club’s health and nutrition program for the next year.

Read more about this project and how to get involved!!

There’s a great video to watch that explains it all too.