This year, as in years past, Comfest has been incredibly supportive of Green Columbus.  It’s time to return the favor.

You can donate your hours to our organization by volunteering at the “party with purpose” Friday through Sunday, June 26-28 in Goodale Park.  Join us to promote community togetherness and embrace diversity while enjoying great food, music, and more.

Volunteer sign-ups can be found here. Don’t forget to donate your hours on behalf of Green Columbus!

Green Columbus green stars (from left) Tracie Conner, Tad Dritz (Exec. Director), Chrissy Cooley.

SWACO’s Emerald Award salutes environmental excellence in central Ohio. Competition for the leadership award was high among businesses, non-profits, schools, and individuals.

Many people contributed to this success, including the large Earth Day Team.

Thanks to all who helped and collectively won this award!

May is National Bike Month.  Check out our events page for a list of bicycle-friendly events including our annual Green Drinks Bike Hop Thursday May 14th.

Christopher Columbus may be credited with discovering America, however, this week America discovered Columbus.  Folks all around the U.S. learned Columbus, Ohio had set both local and national records for Earth Day volunteerism during the Green Columbus Earth Day 2009 Picture This event Saturday.  2,605 volunteers reported to 70 worksites around the city and spent 9,132 hours planting trees, cleaning up litter, removing non-native species, establishing vegetable gardens, and otherwise beautifying their communities.  Though our population isn’t comparable, we topped efforts in larger cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.  So, pick up your $10 PictureThis 2009* organic t-shirt (eco-screened by local American Canvas), pat yourself on the back then, head out to one of the many Earth Week events throughout our city.

Volunteer Registration is now open for Green Columbus 2009 Earth Day Event Picture This

Columbus, Ohio – February 19, 2009 – Earth Day Network has selected Columbus ‘Picture This’ Earth Day as a featured event for 2009.  Annually, Earth Day Network selects established, outstanding Earth Day events to support with targeted communications and other resources.  Columbus is among an elite group of cities worldwide selected for this honor.  Others include Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

Earth Day 2009: Picture This is the third annual event organized by Green Columbus.  According to Tad Dritz, Director of Green Columbus, the name was selected “to encourage central Ohioans to picture how much can be accomplished in one day of volunteer projects across the Columbus metro area.”  The planned event is actually a two day affair with April 18 for volunteer worksites and April 19 for a celebration at Goodale Park, in the Short North.

Information about the event, including sponsorship, worksite and boothing opportunities can be found at www.picturethis09.org.

About Green Columbus

Green Columbus exists to promote sustainable living in Central Ohio and globally by 1) providing forums for environmental groups, citizens and others to interact. 2) raising awareness about environmental issues and what can be done to address them, and 3) encouraging participation in action oriented green events.  More information is available at www.greencbus.org

About Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network, www.earthday.net, seeks to grow and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable planet. It pursues these goals through education, politics, cultural events, and consumer activism. Earth Day Network has a global reach with a network of more than 17,000 partners and organizations in 174 countries. More than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it th

Team Green Drinks is stoked about our REALLY BIG movie event this Thursday at Studio 35 and you should be too!!!  Green Columbus and Sierra Club of Central Ohio have been working to put together a Green Drinks event that promises to be as fun as it is educational.  Plus, don’t forget… Studio 35 is offering a special $5.00 discounted admission just for the 7 PM Green Drinks screening of Flow so you’ll save money too! Doors open at 6 PM for our monthly Green Drinks Happy Hour and Studio 35 will feature, appropriately enough, Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Burning River Pale Ale.

After the film, stick around for a brief but informative panel discussion featuring local experts from Thirst Relief International, Global Gallery, Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW), and Sierra Club.  They’ll answer your questions and  get you “tapped” in to projects no matter what your time or interest level.  As a matter of fact, you can start here by signing the Flow filmmaker’s petition.

Listen and Win!
Listen to CD101 this week for a chance to win free FLOW movie passes and prize packages courtesy of event sponsors Studio 35, Global Gallery, and Jeni’s Ice Creams.   Be sure to say “Thanks!”
Our spot here

Think Outside the Bottle
This Wednesday February 18th, Tip Top Kitchen and Cocktails will host “Think Outside the Bottle.”  In an effort to draw attention to the number of water bottles that make their way into our landfills, Tip Top will “pit bottled water against tap water to see if anyone really can tell the difference.”

Vote for FLOW
Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW) needs your vote!  You can cast your vote and help FLOW procure a grant from the River Network and Miller-Coors.  VOTE HERE

Governor Tapped to Drop Bottled Water

Over the past two years, Corporate Accountability International has catalyzed dozens of mayors to phase out bottled water use because of its social and environmental impacts. Now, Corporate Accountability International and the tens of thousands of people who have joined the campaign are asking governors to Think Outside the Bottle and prioritize public water systems. Not only would canceling bottled water contracts save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars, it would send the message that our most essential public resource cannot be made subject to the same corporate greed and market forces that have imperiled our economy.

On Wednesday February 18th at 11 AM, join Tip Top owner Liz Lessner, Rebecca Tollefson of the Ohio Council of Churches, and pediatrician Wendy Anderson, for a special “Think Outside the Bottle” event at Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails.  For more information, please call (614) 221-8300.

Wednesday, February 18th at 11 AM
Tip Top Restaurant
73 E Gay St
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 221-8300
http://www.tiptopcolumbus.com/

At 6 PM on Thursday February 19th, join Green Drinks at Studio 35 for a special screening of the investigative documentary Flow hosted by the Central Ohio Chapter of Sierra Club and Green Columbus.  Studio 35 will offer a special discounted admission of $5 to this Green Drinks screening.

Flow is an award-winning documentary, directed by Irena Salina, that examines the politics and corporate interests at the heart of the world water crisis and introduces viewers to the solutions and ideas designed to reverse the current trend.  A brief panel discussion will follow.  Please contact tracie@greencbus.org for more information.

This special screening is hosted by the Central Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club and Green Columbus with special support from Global Gallery, Jeni’s Ice Cream and Studio 35.

Ready to roll up your sleeves and green up Columbus this Earth Day?  Of course you are.  If you’ve joined us in years past, you know the first step is signing up to volunteer.  Soon you’ll be able to do just that at Green Columbus’ new Picture This: Earth Day 2009 website.  Bookmark the site now, then check soon for volunteer registration opportunities, worksite locations, and other useful tips and information.

Know of a green-minded professional, business or organization?  Invite them to sponsor Green Columbus’ central Ohio Earth Day efforts.  Email chrissy@greencbus.org to request our sponsorship packet.