Climate & Nature...

What are you doing this summer? I'm going to hang out in LA and work at some silly job until my Green Corps position starts in August. But, that does not exactly compare to what these two college students are doing...they are riding their bikes across the country and planting one million trees! Grant Gardner from Virginia Tech, and Matt Cortina from Rutgers University, will be planting the trees with schools, organizations and communities in the 56 towns in which they will be stopping. It's a relatively common thing to bike across America, and to plant a bunch of trees, but I think these two have a serious insight into a healthy, sustainable movement that could really take off.

Grant and Matt founded Planting America Inc .a non-profit organization a little over a year ago in order to fund and/or create large scale environmental projects across the United States and promote active, earth-friendly lifestyles, more sustainable transportation and environmental stewardship. This 4200 mile journey across the country will be the kick off event for the organization. They're getting plenty of press including CBS and NPR, as well as working with two award-winning filmmakers to make a documentary about the trip and the overall message of environmental maintenance and social responsibility.

You can go to their website: www.plantingamerica.org, and donate, get educated about their campaigns, see their trip itinerary, and even get Free Tree Seeds! Or you can read about them at: http://11thhouraction.com, the website from the film The 11th Hour which is going on a campus screening tour including Ithaca College, Earth Day, at 7:30pm (shameless plug yet again...) But, maybe if people keep seeing films like this and hearing about Grant and Matt types, more campaigns and films will pop up all over the place...so keep spreading the word!