Differences Magazine

Ric O'Barry has worked with dolphins all his life. As a young man, he captured and trained wild dolphins. One day he noticed that one of his favorite dolphins, Cathy, seemed depressed. Although she was in good physical health, she just closed her eyes and drifted to the bottom of her tank, choosing not to come up again for air. O'Barry interpreted this as suicide.

Here are some tips on how you can have a Green Thanksgiving:

• Grow potatoes, pumpkins, beans, and squash in your own garden.

• Make your own pumpkin, sweet potato, apple, or pecan pie.

• Eat free-range turkey or tofurkey.

• Buy locally grown food.

• Do not throw away extra food: donate it!

• Cook using the energy efficient setting for ovens, stoves, and microwaves.

• Try to commute as little as possible to conserve gasoline. If you are traveling to spend the holiday with family, consider meeting at a central location.

Looking through your refrigerator, you probably find a lot of food that you don’t know what to do with (unless you want to recreate an episode of Chopped). After all, what could you possibly whip up using a bundle of mint, carrots and a bottle of olive oil?  Easy, make some amazing beauty products. Wait, what?

16-year-old Charles OrgBon is the founder and CEO of Greening Forward, an online youth environmental activism group based in South Carolina and Georgia. Greening Forward’s mission is to establish, engage, and empower masses of environmental activists. Last year alone, Greening Forward combated coal mining in Appalachia, petitioned for better public transportation in Atlanta, and collaborated internationally. Greening Forward’s motto is “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has,” by Margaret Mead.

You’re practically walking home at sundown nowadays while digging your feet into warm piles of fallen leaves, the air’s getting cool and crispy with the passing of each day and the school halls are abuzz with juicy drama on who’s wearing what and gossip on what parties everyone’s hitting up. That’s right; Halloween’s creeping around the corner. Feel completely unprepared? There’s tons of ways to be socially responsible and have a kickass All Hallow’s Eve at the same time. Just follow our tips on awesome alternatives to make the spookiest night of the year even better. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Initiate a recycling program at school or help the maintenance staff recycle.

*Adopt-A-Highway: this requires picking up trash on the side of the road, but it is more fun than it sounds!

*Create crafts and jewelry out of stuff you would normally discard, like making headbands out of old T-shirts. Sell the creations during the holiday season and donate the earnings to an environmental charity.

*Invite guest speakers to and talk to the club about climate change, the proper way to recycle, or other environmental topics.

*Talk to your school’s administration about installing solar panels.

*Watch an environmental documentary.

*Construct birdhouses.

*Research native wildlife in your area and what can be done to help it thrive.

*Host a mud-wrestling tournament.

*Plant a garden full of native fruits, vegetables, or flowers. Donate the fruits and vegetables to a local food bank or enjoy them as a club!

Snezna Kerekovic, a former beauty editor and publicist, saw a blemish in the world of skin care: hardly any all-natural product existed for young women seeking skin clearing solutions or simply a skin care system that wasn’t all about anti-ageing.  So, she set out to create her own all-natural skin care brand: Bellaboo skin care was born and Snezna became an ex-beauty editor and publicist.

It’s that time of year again… back to school and school supply shopping! However, most products in an office supply store, or any store for that matter, are not geared toward the eco-conscious customer. So I visited my local Office Depot and asked what environmentally friendly products and services they offer.

At the tender age of 20, California native Erin Schrode has become a juggernaut in the non-profit and green world. She's done more during the past six years than most people have done in their entire lifetimes – co-founding Teens Turning Green and The Schoolbag, traveling around the world to talk about environmental issues, and being featured in outlets like MTV, Seventeen, Teen Vogue and The New York Times – all while juggling studying at NYU. Differences briefly chatted with the ecoRenaissance girl during a little bit of downtime about her current projects and how students can go green without breaking a sweat or their bank accounts.