Save the Bonobos. Save the World.
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Gorilla Reunion!Click on the “Gorilla Reunion” link above to see one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever seen. It is the reunion of a man named Damian Aspinall and a gorilla named Kwibi. Damian raised Kwibi until he was five and then released him back into the wild in West Africa. Five years later, he returned to reunite with a now ten-year-old Kwibi. West Tisbury School 1st & 2nd Graders Talk About What They CAN DO to Help Endangered AnimalsThe West Tisbury School on Martha’s Vineyard has a very special group of 1st and 2nd graders who are very interested in how they can help endangered animals. Click on the link to see their amazing pictures and hear their voices as they let us know exactly what’s happening to some of the earth’s most beautiful animals and what they and we can do to help save them. I’m Lucy Gets Rave Reviews From Animal World USA Magazine!Check out the January issue of Animal World USA Magazine by clicking on the cover and downloading the pdf. A fantastic review of I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo appears on page 10! Then be sure to read on as this is a fantastic magazine dedicated to the world’s animals and the people who love them! Also, make sure to check out Animal World USA’s “Weeks for the Animals” to see if your city has one coming soon. 1000 Classrooms, $3, A World of DifferenceOur favorite 11-year-old, James Brooks, in cooperation with the Canadian Ape Alliance, has started a project called 1000 Classrooms. James hopes to get 1000 western classrooms to donate $3 each to buy a dozen eggs from the widows of Park Rangers killed protecting the apes. The eggs will be given to the children at the Kahuzi-Biega Environmental School in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Because of this purchase, the widows earn an income, the children and teachers are given nutritious food and the apes are safer because there is less demand for food! The Eggs for Kids Program makes sure every kid and every teacher gets an egg per day! Election Mania: How Kids Can ParticipateOkay, so we know that you can’t actually vote in this November’s presidential election, but you can still make a difference! We’re going to make a little assumption here. We assume that you are reading this blog and visiting our website because you care about the environment, right? Well, as you may have guessed, we care too. And that’s why we’re voting for Barack Obama. He truly cares about our planet, and his plans to help the environment when he becomes President of the United States say this loud and clear! Just some of the things Senator Obama will do as president:
So, how can you make a difference when you can’t vote? Here are some ways (and please send us more ideas if you have them!)
10 Minutes of World Darkness‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’ Margaret Mead On Wednesday, September 17, 2008, a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens are inviting people around the world to turn off their lights for ten minutes. Here’s their invite - World darkness: on September 17, 2008 from 21:50 to 22:00 (9:50-10:00), local time everywhere. The Internet can be very powerful. Please help spread the word to make a difference. The Democratic National Convention Goes Green!Senator Barack Obama and the Democratic Party are doing their best to walk the walk at the National Convention in Denver this week. In terms of the environment, they are showing their dedication to protect our planet by using green products, services and companies in all aspects of the Convention. They are also holding an event to feature green technologies and jobs, to get national leaders, businesses owners, scientists and 25,000 graduate students from around the country on the same page concerning sustainable technologies and products. This event is incredibly inspiring because education and information sharing are two of the best ways to build the green movement and create real change for the environment. One of the green companies asked to contribute to the Convention with products and the green event as a speaker and leader in the field is Martha’s Vineyard’s own Mark Martin. Mark’s company, Eco MV, built an innovative store on our island called The Bio Store and it is filled with sustainable, green and eco-safe products – for the kitchen, cleaning products, bath products, toys, clothes (even wedding dresses made of bamboo silk), take-out food containers and the best children’s book in the world – I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo. We are so thrilled to have Mark, his team and his company on the Vineyard – and we send him a hearty congratulations for being chosen to be part of the Democratic National Convention. Divided We Fall, United We StandImagine a soccer team where the players refuse to work together. Each of the players wants to score a goal but they insist 1. on doing it their own way, and 2. that the other players are getting in their way. We think this scenario would look like this: members of the same team are trying to take the ball from each other, running in opposite directions, getting hurt, becoming angry…and ultimately losing sight of the ball, their teammates and the goal. Wow. That’s pretty messed up, don’t you think? Sadly, this is a theme that can be seen throughout the world. Whether people are on the same team trying to create positive change in their community or country, save the environment or even save the bonobos, within their efforts they lose sight of who they are trying to help, who their helping partners are and their final goal of freedom, a healthy world or protected bonobos. With so many talented people working so hard to make this world a better place, imagine if differences and personal agendas could be set aside! Imagine if we all worked together – a united front. Do you have any real life examples of when you worked alone, and it was hard, versus working as a team, when your efforts were successful? Tell us about your experiences, we’d love to hear them. Old Sneakers, New Basketball Courts and Playgrounds!
At Bonobo Kids, we are all about REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE so we were psyched to hear that there is something you can do with your old sneakers. Nike has a program called Reuse a Shoe where they take old athletic shoes of any brand (not just Nike) and grind them up to use for playgrounds and playing surfaces. According to Nike, ‘The following list shows approximately how many pairs of recycled athletic shoes generally go into making each surface: Their partners, the makers of these athletic playing surface, incorporate the ground up sneaker material into their usual recipe. To learn more about this program and to find out where you can drop off your old sneaks, click here. As Glaciers Melt in Alaska, Earth RisesAs the debates surrounding climate change, global warming and human contributions to environmental damage continue, real and visible environmental changes are happening. Here is an example from Alaska: Ice is very heavy. So, as the Alaskan glaciers melt and their weight is removed, the earth reacts by springing up, or rising away from the Earth’s core. It’s called isostatic rebound. This phenomenon makes it appear as if the land is expanding – and it actually is! One family’s land is growing at a rate of about one acre per year as the shoreline moves away! Another interesting result is that gravity is affected. The force of gravity begins in the center of the Earth, so the farther you get from the center, the weaker gravity’s pull becomes. For example, it’s stronger at sea level than it is on top of Everest. So as the ice melts and the land rises, the force of gravity on that land shifts. What do you think? Do these changes seem like the result of climate change? What changes are happening in the Congo where the bonobos live? To read more, click here. |
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