April 22nd is Earth Day, a day to appreciate our planet, and become a little more environmentally friendly. It was established in 1970, to celebrate the passage of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Air act among others. For me, it is an event that I remember fondly as a child, as it always had special emphasis. In elementary school, my teachers always impressed the importance of the environment, taking Earth Day to teach us about cleaning up litter, or ways that we could reduce waste in our day-to-day lives. I even remember a reusable shopping bag my parents had – a canvas affair with a picture of the earth, and neon pink text saying ‘EARTH DAY,’ urging us to reduce, reuse and recycle.

However, this was just a few years away from the sudden realizations of climate change – how serious an issue it was, and how little time we had to rectify our mistakes. While Earth Day will still be a time when many will connect with others in their community to pick up trash, plant trees, and celebrate the planet, it should also be used as a time to understand the true impacts of deforestation, the loss of arable land and climate change. In the same way that my interactions as a child with Earth Day had an important personal impact on me, climate change has a significant impact on individuals worldwide, human or otherwise.

Earth Day 2013 is about the Face of Climate Change, a campaign, which means to show that climate change isn’t a matter of government policy, or of glaciers melting in far away places. It is an issue that impacts farmers and fishermen, who deal with droughts and declining fish populations, and the people displaced due to the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other natural disasters. It also impacts animals suffering from habitat loss whether it is from human activity, or rising temperatures. The Face of Climate Change project accumulates photographs of people, animals, and environments that have experienced the negative effects of the changing planet. It also documents the efforts of individuals, like you, or my elementary school teachers, who work to fight climate change, and improve the planet for all beings.

One organization and Jolkona partner making a difference for the environment is Trees for the Future. They approach environmental sustainability, responsible farming practices, forest recovery, and providing opportunities for farmers all over the world in one fell swoop, by planting trees and training communities in agroforestry. A donation of $5 provides the fund to plant 50 trees, an astounding amount. And, Trees for the Future has a presence in a number of countries from Burundi to Brazil, and from Ethiopia to Cameroon.

Working with Trees for the Future provides an incredible amount of impact, especially for Earth Day 2013. Planting trees and teaching sustainable agroforestry to communities directly helps some of the people most affected by Climate Change. In addition, the sheer number of trees planted from each donation works to restore canopies, and scrub excess carbon dioxide from the environment. Not only can you reduce your own carbon footprint, you can help communities affected by deforestation, soil loss, and the loss of livelihood. On this planet, everyone is a Face of Climate Change, and we can all do our part. In honor of Earth Day 2013, donate today, and spread trees all over the world.

You can also help spread the word by liking us on Facebook, and by following us on Twitter,  Pinterest, and Instagram.

During our recent trip to Bangladesh we visited Greenovation Technologies – a small social enterprise that was founded by 4 fresh graduates from Dhaka University. An inventor, Dr. Mahbubul Khan, is also involved with the startup. Greenovation Technologies is trying to commercialize one of Dr. Khan’s inventions, called jutin. Jutin is created by combining jute with resin. Alternating layers of jute and resin are placed together. Between each layer or jute and resin a special “glue” (invented and patented by Dr. Khan) is added. The more number of layers there are the stronger the final jutin sheet is. The entire stack is than placed outside in the sun and allowed to bake for 20 minutes. The resulting material is called jutin.

Greenovation Technolgies team with one of their model homes made from jutin.

Jutin is more durable than tin, lasting for almost 20 years. The team expects jutin to be cheaper than tin, once economies of scale is achieved. The team also believes jutin can be a great alternative to other building materials, especially those used for cheap construction. There are millions of families in Bangladesh who live in very weak structures made from low-quality tin or hay. Greenovation Technologies believes that jutin will make a far better alternative for such homes, being cheaper and stronger and hopefully, therefore, far more sustainable. They are passionately focused on making that happen.

However, the team faces significant challenges:

1. Lack of funding. The team has very little capital. They have taken part in business competitions and have done very well. However, the winnings from these competitions are not enough to offset the full cost of setting up a production service. This issues effects all the other issues below as well.
2. The need to do more research. The team needs to do more research into the long-term effects of jutin. Jutin contains resin (a polymer). The team needs to find out the environmental effects of its long-term presence.
3. Find the quickest way to scale. The team wants to set up a manufacturing plant to create jutin sheets. However, that is a extremely risky undertaking, especially for a team with little capital and no experience in manufacturing. They will be looking at other options like licensing the technology to other existing manufacturers.

Greenovation Technologies serves as a great example to all of us that the social entrepreneurship journey is filled with challenges and setbacks. Like other social entrepreneurs, this team has to prove that they have the resilience and the creativity to overcome these problems.

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In 1969 an oil platform off the Californian coast of Santa Barbara blew out, unleashing a ghastly environmental nightmare. A nation stood appalled and watched as an entire ecosystem drowned in the toxic filth of crude oil. Out of the horror of its aftermath, and in an effort to bring a greater social consciousness of environment protection, Earth Day was born and first celebrated on April 22nd 1970.

42 years later the environmental issues that plague this planet rage ever louder, but so too does the crusading Earth Day. This Sunday, April 22nd, is Earth Day 2012.

What is it about?

The Earth Day Network connects with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify, and mobilize the environmental movement. On Sunday over 1 billion people will voice their love and appreciation for this planet whilst demanding for its protection. It is a campaign designed to provide people with the opportunity to unite in their call for a sustainable future, directing them toward quantifiable outcomes. One of those quantifiable outcomes is the Billion Acts of Green project. Yes, that’s one billion not one million.

A Billion Acts of Green

This mother of all projects encourages individuals, organizations, businesses and governments to support the campaign by performing environmental actions, such as biking to work, picking up garbage off the street, or planting a tree. The goal is to reach one billion actions by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012. The accomplishment will be presented at the Rio +20 Conference to be used as a lever addressing the UN’s inaction and inspiring leaders to reach a global agreement.

What can I do?

Simple: pledge any act of green you can think of and let the people at Earth Day know here. At Jolkona we have 16 partners that are directly involved in environmental protection. With $5 your donation plants trees in countries from the Philippines, through India, Senegal, to Haiti. With $10 your donation teaches youth in Costa Rica about water conservation. With $24 your donation conserves rainforests in Tanzania. With $40 your donation builds a fuel efficient stove for a family in Nepal. With $100 your donation trains environmental youth advocates in Kenya.

Go to our projects page and select ‘Environment’ under the ‘Projects’ column to view all the appropriate projects. Join us and a billion others in the call and pledge to protect our planet Earth.

For more information, resources, and ideas go to the Earth Day website.

Follow and share the movement on Facebook and Twitter.

Tweet using the #earthday hashtag.

Late July of this last summer, Jolkona raised money through our Groupon campaign to fund women grassroots leaders to come to Seattle and participate in a 10 week training program. The deal was this: for every $500 raised, Jolkona would fund one week of training for one woman. In addition, all funds raised would be munificently matched by Seattle International Foundation, and then implemented by iLEAP. Let me say right now that it was – and continues to be – a brilliant success, and on so many levels. And here’s why:

The total raised from the 3 day Groupon campaign, plus the additional donations since then, including the generous match from SIF, is a vertiginous $20,000! (I’m not usually one for wielding exclamation points in my grammar, but that one is thoroughly warranted.) And with that amount raised, Jolkona was able to fund fellowships for two women for the entire 10 week training program. Please, allow me to introduce them to you:

Claudia Vanessa Siliezar (left) and Margaret Edwin Molomoo (right)

Claudia Vanessa Siliezar is from Honduras – she is a Sociology and Law professor at CEUTEC-UNITEC in La Ceiba, and is coordinator at GOjoven Honduras, where she is involved in promoting women’s rights, especially those pertaining to reproductive and sexual health, as well as in combating violence against women.

And….

Margaret Edwin Molomoo is from India. She works for Tarumitra, where she educates students, farmers, and women about the methods and benefits of organic farming in villages surrounding Bahir. Her work has assisted many farming groups in changing their use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in their farming practices.

Thanks to the funds raised, Claudia and Margaret, already stalwart pursuers of a fairer society, are now even better equipped to grow their successful, high-impact programs.

In connection with this, we are inviting you to the extraordinary annual Women in the World’s Breakfast, held at the Four Seasons in Seattle, where you can meet our fellows, Claudia and Margaret, in the flesh. Buy tickets here. And to whet your appetite, here’s the inspiring video of last year’s event:

The raising of the funds and the opportunity and skills it provided Claudia and Margaret were not the only success stories of this campaign. Another aspect deserving of sincere pats on the back was the campaign’s collaboration: the three-pronged spearhead of SIF, iLEAP, and Jolkona. You see, unfortunately, too many nonprofits try to go at campaigns alone, and what this campaign exemplifies is the exponential difference nonprofits can make when they work together. Remember: a problem shared is a problem halved.

Our goal is to fund 5 women; so far we’ve funded 2. The campaign is still running and SIF is still matching every one of your donations, dollar for dollar. Make a difference. See the results. Give to the campaign here: Invest in Women Grassroots Leaders from Around the World.

What do coffee, a five-dollar bill, and rainforests have in common? Coffee is one of the top ten commodities of the world. In the U.S., most handcrafted lattes and espresso beverages fall somewhere under five dollars. Sadly, rainforests are often compromised to accommodate the need for growing more crops and delivering the beans to caffeine-loving folks around the world.
Why is this important? We lose between 3 and 6 billion trees annually due to deforestation. Our world population is under 7 billion; imagine losing every person living on this planet each year. That is the effect of harvesting lumber for logging and cultivating farm land to grow crops. The pretty penny spent on many cups of java begins with the coffee beans themselves.

 

Many countries near the Equator and world oceans harvest coffee beans. Photo credit: Samson Lee

Preserving our Delicate Ecosystems

Let’s look at Brazil: the world’s highest producer of coffee, churning out an impressive 2,249,010 tonnes in 2007 alone. In response to this demand, many coffee harvesters occupied fertile soil, eradicating many of the lush vegetation in that space. As an effect of this type of production, many forests and habitats have disappeared. By removing the trees, the goal was to maximize the growth period of the coffee plants (via photosynthesis) in order to yield even more product at a faster rate. However, this creates detrimental effects on our global environment such as atmospheric warming and near extinct species of exotic animals.
There is a solution. Allowing native trees to flourish among coffee crops generates seed dispersal from birds, giving birth to a diverse ecosystem of plants and animals. Attracting multiple species of trees is ideal, because the sprouting vegetation that results often unite empty spaces present in rainforests today. This process may also reverse the effects of deforestation over time, Jha claims.  Read the entire report on Shalene Jha and Christopher Dick’s exploration in shade-grown coffee and how it improves the effects of deforestation.

Natural landscapes like this are losing their chance to be preserved. Photo credit: rumpleteaser

World Rainforest Week

World Rainforest Week is October 10-16; a time of reflection and appreciation for the flora and fauna of every lush forest in the world. Burundi, Brazil, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, India, Mali, Nicaragua, the Philippines, and Senegal are all recognized under Jolkona’s Tree Planting project with “Trees for the Future.”

This year for National Coffee Day on September 29th, I donated to this project by supplying Brazil with 50 more trees.

This week, I challenge you by trading one latte, cappuccino, or cup of drip for 50 trees to replenish our world loss of 3 to 6 billion trees annually. As always, a Jolkona “thank you” for your donation will be real-time updates from our partner about your gracious contribution. Every drop counts, and even one new tree is an additional contributor to future growth!

To learn more about shade-grown coffee and other environmentally conscious actions you can take, visit Green Bean Coffee’s website and mongabay.com

Earth Day—April 22 of every year—is a day dedicated to inspiring and mobilizing people all around the world to demonstrate their commitment to the environment, sustainability, and this big green and blue planet we call home.

There are tons of ways to celebrate your commitment to the environment:

There are freebies

If you bring a reusable mug or tumbler into any Starbucks location in the US or Canada today, they’ll give you a free brewed coffee or tea. This promotion isn’t just about free coffee, it’s about keeping “nearly 1.45 million pounds of paper out of landfills,” as per Sue, manager of global responsibility at Starbucks.

There are celebrations

Our friends at the Nature Conservancy are hosting a Picnic for the Planet in a number of cities worldwide. The goal is for people to step outside and head to their favorite outdoor spot to enjoy good food in the company of great people. If you’re in Seattle, be sure to swing by the Nature Conservancy of Washington’s picnic at Pike Place Market!

There are projects that let you make a direct impact on the planet

Jolkona has 15 projects that support the environment. For as little as $5, you can plant 50 trees in countries like Burundi, Ethiopia, and Haiti. To date, the Jolkona community has planted over 18,000 trees worldwide. How many more can we plant by the end of Earth Day?

In addition to planting trees, we have 4 projects for less than $100 that work towards ensuring environmental sustainability:

Teach Water Conservation to Costa Rican Youth – This is one of my personal favorite environmental projects that Jolkona offers as it combines two things: education and the environment. Through the Water Guards Program, students in Costa Rica learn about water conservation and how to teach what they learn to their peers and lead their community at school how to reduce unnecessary and wasteful water consumption. Talk about an amazing project!

Want to see this project in action? Last year, two Jolkona team members visited this project and saw its impact first hand.

Conserve African Rainforests – Protecting the Earth’s rainforests are essential for preserving biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and supporting local villages who are custodians of the forests.

Build an Energy Efficient Stove for Nepali Family – A lot of people living in the U.S. have Energy Star appliances, so what does “Energy Star” look like in the rest of the world? This stove not only protects old growth forests in Nepal from being harvested but also reduces lung disease through proper venting and frees up the village women from spending an average of 8.5 hours per household per month on collecting firewood.

Train Environmental Youth Advocates in Kenya – To create change in your own community, you need local leaders to be advocates and change makers. This project helps train ten rural village youth to educate and advocate on human-caused sources of pollution and the effects it has on public health in their own community. Much like the Costa Rican Youth project above, this one has amazing potential to make a lasting impact!

This planet is all we have right now, let’s work to make sure we keep it!

How are you celebrating Earth Day?

Photo by: AlicePopkorn

This post was written by Nancy Xu, a member of the Jolkona team. A few months ago, she traveled to Costa Rica and with Astha Gupta, Jolkona Foundation’s Director of Technology. They visited a school that benefits from the water conservation program and this is what they learned.

It’s middle of the winter back home, but it sure is hot and humid here in San Jose, Costa Rica. Astha, Maryam and I are on our walk back from the market, and we see Aitor Llodio from Aliarse, already waiting promptly with a cab. We give each other a warm greeting and are on our way. Today, Aitor is taking us to visit a school that has benefited from the water conservation program. Since the school is located in a low-income community, Aitor asked us to pack minimally to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. We chat along as storefronts become less and less dense, as we pass by mountains that are ex-volcano craters, and through coffee farms where groups of young men are catching a break on the sidewalk.

Aitor has been intensely involved in the water conservation initiatives for the last couple of years. The concept of water conservation is not quite on the radar of its citizens, as reflected by the nation’s increasing consumption for water. Since the government is not steering the ship to make any improvements in this area, a number of grassroots efforts like Aliarse’s began in hope of making positive change. They have multiple approaches to address this issue. Today, Aitor is going to show us the education and the infrastructure improvement programs.
Read the rest of this entry »

This guest post was written by Derya Rose, on behalf of Yachana Foundation, a Jolkona Foundation partner.

Evenings in rural Ecuador are often filled with the familiar whirring of diesel generators, providing a little bit of power to communities off the country’s main electricity grid. When these machines are off, the soft glow of candles fills the night. Families cooking, students studying and children playing – all by candlelight.

Although this environment may seem charming (after all, candlelight often inspires romantic thoughts), it presents a real burden to the rural poor. Families not only pay up to $270 per year for candles, they also encounter frequent burns as well as accidentally set fire to their houses on occasion. Add strained eyes from reading in dim light to the equation, and one can see that this situation isn’t quite as charming.

Founded by Douglas McMeekin, the Yachana Foundation has been operating in the Ecuadorian Amazon since 1991.  Recently, Douglas found out about an innovative, flexible mini solar panel that was designed specifically for use by the rural poor, or who Douglas calls, the people that live at the base of the economic pyramid.  This solar panel, which contains no glass and is virtually unbreakable, provides clean power to four useful accessories. The first is an LED lamp, which can be recharged over 500 times and can last between six and thirty hours per charge, depending on the intensity selected. This product alone can easily solve many of the economic, health and environmental problems posed by candle use. Other accessories include rechargeable radio batteries, a mobile phone charger and a spare battery pack, each with its own set of economic, social and environmental benefits.

We at Yachana found in these products an opportunity to operate a triple bottom line distribution business. First, the end user would enjoy the benefits described above (and more), allowing them to invest more money on their kids’ educations, health, clothes, businesses and so on.  Next, the environment would benefit from tons less spent on the disposal of wax as well as millions of used batteries being discarded.  Lastly, 100% of the business’ profits would go to support the Yachana Technical High School.

Right now, with the help of various government agencies, we are rolling out this product regionally and aim to offer it in all regions of Ecuador within the next year. 

If you would like more information about how you can support Yachana and it’s various community development initiatives, please contact Hugh Yarbrough at hugh.yarbrough@yachana.org.ec

	Preserve Amazon Rainforest

In June, we launched an awareness drive to increase the membership in our social networks. We had promised to plant a tree for every supporter in Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. At end of the drive, we gained enough supporters to plant 750 trees. Our supporters decided to plant the trees in India, Ethiopia, and Haiti.

At Jolkona Foundation, we are committed to showing impact for EVERY donation. We try to take that approach with all of our activities. So, we are excited to share videos from our partners – Trees for the Future – showing planting of moringa trees in India. Most of the videos show the planting of the trees while the last video shows moringa trees planted last year.

These videos serve as clear proof of the impact that our supporters had by simply following us on Twitter or becoming a Facebook fan or joining our LinkedIn group. Thank you for the support and we hope you will continue to have even more impact in other projects.