Green Daily

What's Jessica Alba doing to reduce her ecological footprint? Wanna exploit your talent for gripping, inspiring photography to win cool stuff? Have you ever successfully grown any plant without watering it? Today's Eco-Beat has the scoop on all the latest green news and tips.

Jessica Alba's Green Lifestyle Makeover After last month's shark poster incident, we know that Jessica Alba is a serious eco-activist (an outlaw even). In an interview with Vogue, she shared some of the ways she's gone green at home. My favorite: Her lawn is made of recycled tires -- no watering or mowing.

Exploit Your Creativity to Protect Our Waterways Looking for a way to combine your love of nature with your disgust for litter? Every Friday in July, Wend is holding a photo contest to help inspire activism by showcasing outstanding snapshots of exquisite beauty or exquisitely trashed beauty. Details here.

Ant Colony is Taking Over the World An Argentine species of ants has spread across the planet, viciously attacking all rivals while recognizing each other as if they were all part of one unstoppable, globalized super-colony. Of course, humans unwittingly spread them to every continent except Antarctica.

Dry Farming is Not an Oxymoron Farmers in drought-ridden California are boldly making the water-wise transition to "dry farming." Sounds like a excellent plan ... for a cactus farm. Right? Well, apparently these farmers have discovered that certain apples, tomatoes and grapes thrive with very little water.

The Future of Highway Taxes For me, there's just no topic more fascinating than how we will pay taxes in the future. I'm kidding. Still, when everyone is driving solar powered cars, the gasoline tax will be a woefully inadequate way to fund highways. The alternative: A GPS monitored mileage tax.

Green in a Flash:

• Is the McMansion dead? Or is it just hibernating?
• Yahoo! is investing in green data centers and renewable energy.
• Is "LEED certified" the latest victim of the greenwashing movement?

Why are Naomi Watts and Liev Shreiber digging in the dirt? What's greener: Drip irrigation or xeriscaping? Does your legume habit amount to a hill of beans, ecologically speaking? Today's Eco-Beat has the scoop on all the latest green news and tips.

Naomi Watts Plants a Tree Teaching their sons about environmental responsibility and the joys of playing in the dirt, Naomi and husband Liev Schreiber took their sons to Galilee's Jewish National Fund Park to do some family tree planting. Sounds like fun, I hope they offset their travel footprint.

The Water Saver's Shower Ritual Rethinking your shower routine is an easy way to save H2O and, of course, shrink your utility bill. Sure, you've heard most of these ideas before, but it's way more fun to watch every water saving shower tip you've ever heard crammed into a one and a half minute video.

The Drip Irrigation Vs. Xeriscaping Breakdown Looking to make some water saving changes in the yard before sprinkler season? You've probably considered going with either drought-resistant vegetation, or a more conservative watering system. Now, how do they stack up in a head-to-head water conservation deathmatch?

Father's Day Procrastinator's Special So, you still haven't done your shopping for dear old dad and you'res starting to feel the shame ... Is he a tree hugger? An outdoorsy type? You may be in luck. You could sponsor a wilderness area, print out the official certificate, and you're done.

One for the Bean Counters Beans, beans, they're good for your heart, they're a musical fruit, and they're a great way to supplement your protein intake on meat-free Mondays. But, do you know which beans have the lightest energy footprint: canned or dried? If your a bean fiend, you've gotta check this out.

Green in a Flash:

• Harassing cyclists is now its own offense in Missouri. Go bikers!
  
• Jessica Alba isn't going to jail for her Oklahoma shark poster activism.
• What are the best makes and models to scrap if the cash for clunkers bill passes?

Why is Jessica Alba in trouble with the Oklahoma City PD? What's with these naked celebrities doing photo shoots with seafood? Want some discount carbon offsets on eBay? Today's Eco-Beat has the scoop on all the latest green news and tips.

Jessica Alba's Hearts Sharks Over the weekend, Jessica got involved in a guerilla poster campaign to save sharks. After defacing property with her curious posters, and the pictures of the incident made it to the internet, Alba is under investigation by the fuzz. The Sea Shepherds must be proud.

Department of Energy Fails its Own Energy Audit While the DOE is all about promoting energy-conscious computer habits (like setting monitors to auto shutdown), a recent audit found that few DOE facilities were walking the walk. Auditors say the DOE could save $1.5M/year if they would follow their own policies.

Celebs Get Naked to Promote Ocean Documentary A new documentary called End of the Line supposedly does for the ocean what An Inconvenient Truth did for the climate. In fact, it's had such an enormous impact that it's inspired a bunch of B-list celebrities to pose nude to promote ocean awareness.

Stop and Smell the Exhaust Fumes Can a traffic jam be considered art? Maybe if it's in a picturesque location. Spanish artist Maider Lopez called on 400 friends to help create an impromptu traffic jam art installation last September. Actually, it's kind of pretty. Kinda.

Guy Sells His Carbon Offsets on Ebay When it comes to carbon offsetting protocol, there's a pretty huge gray area. One dude from Minnesota is selling his personal "carbon offsets," resulting from the fact that he stopped driving in 2007, on eBay. It's just like other carbon trading schemes in principle, right?

Green in a Flash:

• Ohio cops will now run their radios, etc. on solar power.
• A semi-greenwashed "cash for clunkers" bill has passed the House.
• Overfishing is somehow resulting in the proliferation of giant jellyfish.

Amidst all of the campaigns encouraging you to vote, the heated debates going on around you, and the mixed messages from the media, it can be difficult for some students to rise to the voting occasion.

Forgetting the "I'll be just like Jessica Alba" and "because Ellen thinks its cool," and even "the chicks will dig it" messages for one moment, here are five practical reasons to hit the polls this autumn:

1. Learning about the issues and casting a vote is a very empowering experience. It helps to shape your character, affirm your identity, and build self-respect. Even if you don't end up feeling savvy enough to debate the tough stuff with the people that live and breathe that sort of thing, you'll be able to follow it and think critically.
   
2. On the day that the new President or Prime Minister is sworn in, you will know more about what the future holds. What will happen to your taxes, to tuition, to pollution laws? Are green technologies going to flourish, will gas prices rise, and will the troops come home? What was promised, and what are you going to do about it next election?
   
3. Speaking of the next election, if you decide this year that you don't have the time, haven't been following the debates, or that your vote does not count anyway, you will have to wait four years before you have the opportunity that you have right now. That is a lot of time to grow, to reflect, and to have regrets.
   
4. The chicks really will dig it. So will future employers, coworkers, peers, professors, and just about anyone else. People will pick up on the fact that you choose to educate yourself, to exercise your rights, and to care about what is going on in the world.
5. You will get to join the unofficial elitist club of 'I voted so I get to complain.' If you know what we are supposed to be getting from each candidate, and pay attention to what they give, you have armed yourself appropriately. There will be no more listening to the 'he said, she said, they did not, look at what they approved' bull commercials.

"Only you can silence yourself." This is the slogan put out by DeclareYourself.com, a not-for-profit organization aimed at encouraging voting and educating the public about the candidates, and it has huge celebrity backing. In particular, it is targeting young, first-time would-be voters.

This website, at first glance, appears to be no different from other campaigns that tout voting without providing any real information.

Celebrity campaigns, television ads, and other 'get out and vote' media messages actually discourage some voters, or at the very least, turn them off to the messenger, according to some students at WSU.

Daniel Lancaster, a WSU junior, thinks that many such websites and advertisements are trying to water down the issue and liken it to a "Calvin Klein advertisement."

He also expressed concern that many people will simply cast a vote, without really becoming educated about the policies their vote will be backing.

If you look at the website more closely, you will find some resources that combine to form a nice starting point, an introductory portal to the world of voting for new voters. You'll also find resources to help you encourage others to vote.