We wish we could just show the damn video here, but are having some technical difficulties. Please check out the link for now and we'll have the video up pronto. Thanks, Shift Team http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NRb7ZTLkCc

We think Nike has done something cool but not entirely sure
 
The good news is that Nike has created a new program called "Reuse-A-Shoe," where you can drop off your ratty old sneaks to be recycled. The bad news is man, they do a horrible job of explaining how it works. Luckily you have Shift to wade through their corporate babble and get you the skinny. Near as we can tell, if you have old stinky kicks with the toe blown out and you want to get rid of them, you can drop them off at select places and Nike will grind them up into different types of material, each of which is used for different sports surfaces like soccer and football fields, basketball and tennis courts, tracks and playground surfacing. Seems like a good idea, right? Never mind that Nike does a lot of yapping about their commitment to "waste elimination" and recycling and community, etc. but make it impossible to tell you where to simply drop off your old shoes. Just go here:

Sitting on your butt has never been so productive
 
Despite the current administration's efforts, or indeed because of them, 2006 was a coming out year for the environment (see "Impress Your Friends" sidebar for proof). Especially in the media. You had books, movies, Shift, blogs, and Shift blogs getting all stirred up about the state of the planet. Perhaps no two projects got more raves than the documentaries "Who Killed the Electric Car" and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." Now they're both available on DVD and what could be more fun than renting them both, heating up some popcorn and inviting your conservative friends over for a little environmental intervention.

Taking advantage of a reality TV craze that doesn't seem to want to let up, mega-star and earth friendly activist Leonardo DiCaprio is helping to develop a reality TV series focusing on the environment.

E-topia will chronicle the eco-friendly reconstruction of an American town as it is transformed into a “green utopia of tomorrow." The project, being shopped to broadcast networks, will document the months-long endeavor in a town yet to be determined as teams of construction workers and laborers unaccustomed to the demands of a "green" lifestyle work with passionate eco-idealists, planners and architects.

Executive producers Craig Piligian (CBS' Survivor) and Tom Mazza (NBC's Treasure Hunters) brought the idea to DiCaprio, a high-profile environmental advocate, who signed on as co-creator and executive producer.

Piligian said the idea of doing a project "that had community in it, something with purpose and reason," took off after the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina last year and the global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth, featuring Al Gore, "struck a chord" with filmgoers.

"We're going to take a devastated community and help transform it as a prototype for the future," Piligian said. "At the end of the day, we're all going to have to change the way we live, the way we burn and use fuel ... We're trying to show the country and the world by example, town by town by town, how we can change the way we live and fight global warming."

In addition, each episode is designed to have a "call to action," directing viewers to a Web site where they can learn more about ecology and find out how to participate in environmental initiatives.

Music Acts Check Their Carbon at the Door

Bonaroo, the widely popular week-long music festival held in Nashville, Tennessee has recently pledged to devote considerable “monetary investment” to turn the event green.

Held each summer, the concert attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors and this year featured some of the hottest acts in music, including Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Petty, and many more.

Realizing the heavy footprint so many people in one spot can have, the Bonaroo organizers have decided to act locally and hope for global change. They have vowed “to educate our attendees and bring Global Warming and other environmental issues into the mainstream.” Additionally, concert planners have created Planet Roo, the onsite footprint at Bonnaroo which features environmentally / socially responsible organizations, organic food and beverage brands, a green cafÈ, a solar powered stage, yoga / dance classes, speakers and more. ‘Green Tags’ are sold in Planet Roo giving attendees the opportunity to offset emissions from their trip to Bonnaroo.

For more information: www.bonnaroo.com

DMB: Under the Table and Dreaming of Carbon Neutrality

The Dave Matthews Band has been playing great music for years. An energetic live performance combined with a truly unique sound has made for countless unforgettable nights throughout the world. But with each show comes a slew of carbon dioxide emissions produced by transporting everything from stage lighting to instruments to Dave and the band members themselves from venue to venue.
Perhaps even better sounding than their music (at least to us at Shift…) was the band’s announcement on June 27, 2006 that they were officially going carbon neutral. By offsetting all of the carbon emissions they have produced by touring since 1991, DMB intends to take a firm stance on global warming.
In partnering up with NativeEnergy, the band will financially aid in the building of new clean energy sources to replace fossil fuel burning power plants throughout America. In fact, you don’t have to be a wildly successful musical group to offset your CO2 emissions. Anyone can visit www.nativeenergy.com to learn more about the process and take an active role in eliminating global warming.

For more information: www.dmband.com

Rockers Aim for 0% Carbon Emmissions

Following in the (light) footsteps of Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, and other responsible rock groups (have those words ever been written in the same sentence?), Pearl Jam has decided to do its part to offset global warming by lowering its carbon output.

In its Carbon Portfolio Strategy, the band explains that it will “donate a total of $100,000 to nine organizations doing innovative work around climate change, renewable energy, and the environment.” The organizations include the American Solar Energy Society, the Cascade Land Conservancy, EarthCorps, and more.

"We hope that by highlighting and creating a commons for these groups, we can advance preservation of existing ecosystems, restoration of degraded environments, and continued investment in clean, renewable energy technologies. Furthermore, by working with these groups and others to mitigate our own carbon emissions, we ultimately hope to get Pearl Jam at 0% net emissions for our tours and businesses,” the band writes on their website.

Long advocates for social and environmental change, in 2003 the band joined forces with Conservation International to offset 5,700 tons of CO2 emissions released from trucks, buses, airplane travel, hotel rooms, concert venues — and the estimated one million fans driving to and from the concerts — by creating and managing a new protected area in the rainforest of Makira, Madagascar. They also pledged $100,000 to organizations working on climate change and renewable energy in the northwestern United States, near the band's Seattle home.