Ever wonder where all those lunchtime to-­‐go containers end up? So did we. Turns out that in the U.S., 93 percent of plastics do not end up in the recycling bin1— they head for the landfill. If you think about all the people in your town who (just like us!) have been ordering their salads, sushi, and sandwiches to-­‐go in a plastic container each and every day...it adds up to a staggering amount of waste!

On April 20 let's celebrate lunchtime -- that magical break in the middle of your busy day that (when it happens!) fills your belly and rests your brain.
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Maui’s Dolphin will be the first marine cetacean in the world to become extinct directly due to human impact-unless you help! Recent research has identified the population of Maui’s Dolphins to be within the range of 55 to 79, with the next category for these dolphins being extinction. Please join a global initiative supported by Dr. Barbara Maas of NABU International asking that the New Zealand government ban gill nets in the habitat of Maui’s and Hector’s Dolphin. The New Zealand government is currently accepting public submissions until April 11th.

Sign the Petition: www.change.org/petitions/maui-s-dolphin-submission

Filmed & edited by William Trubridge, www.hectorsdolphins.com
Music: "Ta Moko" sung by Whirimako Black from "1 Giant Leap"
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/hectorsandmauissos
 

Charlie Bird meets seals while travelling through Antarctica following the route of explorer Tom Crean's final expedition alongside Ernest Shackleton aboard the Endurance in 1914-15. Watch the full show here www.rte.ie/player

 

New videography techniques have opened up the oceans' microscopic ecosystem, revealing it to be both mesmerizingly beautiful and astoundingly complex. Marine biologist Tierney Thys has used footage from a pioneering project to create a film designed to ignite wonder and curiosity about this hidden world that underpins our own food chain.

The Plankton Chronicles Project combines art and science, revealing the beauty and diversity of planktonic organisms. Plankton samples are collected and filmed at the Villefranche-sur-Mer Marine Station and on board the schooner Tara using dark field optics and macro lenses or microscopes equipped with HD SLR cameras. Christian Sardet from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Noé Sardet and Sharif Mirshak from Parafilms (Montreal) initiated the project in the context of the Tara Oceans expedition.

Plankton Chronicles are sponsored by the CNRS, the Pierre et Marie Curie University in Paris (UPMC) and the Groupement d'Interet Scientifique IBISA.

Daniel Schnitzer knew that small-scale solar products (like solar-powered LED lightbulbs) could transform the lives of rural Haitians, but found that despite their value, they wouldn't simply sell themselves. At TEDxPittsburgh, he explains how health and energy solutions for the developing world are useless unless the market works too.

A PhD candidate at Carnegie Mellon University’s department of Engineering & Public Policy, Daniel Schnitzer co-founded EarthSpark International in 2008. Honored by the Clinton Global Initiative in 2010, EarthSpark International works in Haiti to develop markets and aid local entrepreneurs in creating a supply chain for safe, clean and renewable energy. It also played a vital role in relief efforts after the 2010 earthquake. Before this, Schnitzer worked for KEMA Inc., an energy consulting firm, at which he focused on renewable energy policy and efficiency.

This crafted doc offers a window into the bygone way of life on a UNESCO protected island off Croatia. Living on rocks carved with the history of two and a half thousand years, life for the people of Trogir is infused with an uninterrupted antiquity. From the fresh washing strung across ancient courtyards, wafting smells of traditional baking, and locals gathered in the shoemaker's shop to chatter, these are lovingly selected sequences reminiscent of a time before cameras existed.

The people of Trogir enjoy a special existence,fusing their lives seamlessly with the beauty and culture that surrounds them. A thousand people live inside the centre, a UNESCO world cultural heritage site since 1997. It is a shimmering Mediterranean paradise, abounding with classical architecture, fishing boats, shops, restaurants and a calm traditional way of life.

To watch the complete video: www.journeyman.tv

Robert Redford sounds the alarm about the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, which would endanger rare whales, the world's greatest sockeye salmon runs and the communities that depend on them for survival. www.StopPebble.org

The result of over six years of work can be seen in Canon Ambassador, and nature photographer, Thorsten Milse's new coffee table book 'Polar World' -- a 354 page tome that features nearly 300 images shot in the extreme weather conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

The book includes both German and English language versions of all the text, technical information about each image shot, a mixture of landscape and wildlife images, plus a foreword by German explorer Arved Fuchs. Thorsten Milse explained: "I shot the project over a six year period -- the first pictures are from 2004. The last time I was there was in 2009. In 2010 I started with the book layout and I worked for one year on the book. It was hard work."

Milse added: "For this six-year project, there were over 200,000 photos, and more than 20 expeditions with icebreakers, helicopters, Zodiac boats and Ski-Doos. It is hard to go into these regions -- when the open water is totally frozen you have no chance. There is only a short time available with an icebreaker. Although it's a long time period for a book, in the Arctic the little polar bear season is only four weeks and it's then same for the emperor penguins -- you have only four weeks to take good photos."

Filmmaker Penelope Jagessar Chaffer was curious about the chemicals she was exposed to while pregnant: Could they affect her unborn child? So she asked scientist Tyrone Hayes to brief her on one he studied closely: atrazine, a herbicide used on corn. (Hayes, an expert on amphibians, is a critic of atrazine, which displays a disturbing effect on frog development.) Onstage together at TEDWomen, Hayes and Chaffer tell their story.

Penelope Jagessar Chaffer is the director and producer of the documentary/surrealist film Toxic Baby. She works to bring to light the issue of environmental chemical pollution and its effect on babies and children.

Tyrone Hayes, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, studies frogs and other amphibians in ponds around the world. He's become an active critic of the farm chemical atrazine, which he's found to interfere with the development of amphibians' endocrine systems. Hayes is the subject of the chidren's book The Frog Scientist, and lectures frequently. His work was recently covered in Mother Jones.

Japan has always been energy hungry and addicted to nuclear power. Yet the tsunami washed away old certainties and the industry has seen a growing ground-level resistance and concern about its safety.

"The safety myth about nuclear power has been sunk deeply into people's hearts. But that lie has been exposed", says anti-nuclear activist, Hitomi Kamanaka. The Fukushima disaster is believed to have released as much radiation as 200 Hiroshima bombs. "There's been a lot of cover up over this". Across Japan communities are fighting to stop the construction of new power plants. Yet can the world's third biggest consumer of electricity live without them?

A Film By ABC Australia
Distributed By Journeyman Pictures
www.youtube.com/user/journeymanpictures
www.journeyman.tv

Every year, on March 22, the United Nations invites all the world's citizens to celebrate water.

Here are some footprint calculators you might find interesting:

Products calculator: from apples to wine, see the water footprint of each: www.waterfootprint.org - sheep's meat looks to have the highest water footprint.

Here's an  extensive water calculator for your home use: wecalc.org, you do need to put in your e-mail address.

• The production of one kilogram of beef requires 22 thousand litres of water.
• To produce one cup of coffee we use 140 litres of water.

Land Rovers converted to run on electricity are allowing tourists to get up close to the animals. The 'greenrovers' are quiet - meaning the roar of the engine won't frighten off wildlife.

Mark Raymond studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and since returning to Trinidad in 1993 has been responsible for a wide range of architectural, urban design and planning projects throughout the Caribbean. Mark has lectured on his work at the Caribbean School of Architecture in Kingston, Jamaica, UNPHU in Santo Domingo, London Metropolitan University and more recently at Yale University. He is interested in the capacity of innovative architectural, urban and landscape design to ensure a sustainable future. markraymond.com

An anteater will appear to know kung fu when threatened.

A mother gray whale lifted up her calf, seemingly to help it get a better view of the excited onlookers. Turn down sound, if sensitive, humans make noise, the whales here do not.

The gray whales in San Ignacio Lagoon frequently approach small tourist boats, seeking the human interaction. While they could easily avoid the people, whose small boats are not allowed to closely approach whales, they actually seem to enjoy making contact.

Laguna San Ignacio is on the Pacific coast of Mexico's Baja peninsula and is the destination for hundreds of gray whales, who migrate annually to the region from their feeding grounds in the Arctic. Here, where the water is shallow and warm, they give birth to their young. It lies within El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve and is the gray whale's last undisturbed nursing and breeding ground, largely thanks to an environmental victory in 2000 that stopped the development of an industrial salt plant.

Whale watching here is highly regulated, with limits on how many boats can be on the water, how long they can stay, and how close they can get; rather than closely approaching the whales, they must idle their engine and wait for the whales to approach the vessel, which is a common occurrence. Visit: oneworldoneocean.org

NASA takes viewers through a four and a half minute narrated tour of the Moon. Lava and human footprints!

In the deepest, darkest parts of the oceans are ecosystems with more diversity than a tropical rainforest. Taking us on a voyage into the ocean -- from the deepest trenches to the remains of the Titanic -- marine biologist David Gallo explores the wonder and beauty of marine life. (Launching a series on Awesome Nature)

“Today we’ve only explored about 3 percent of what’s out there in the ocean. Already we’ve found the world’s highest mountains, the world’s deepest valleys, underwater lakes, underwater waterfalls … . There’s still 97 percent, and either that 97 percent is empty or just full of surprises.” David Gallo.

David Gallo works to push the bounds of oceanic discovery. Active in undersea exploration (sometimes in partnership with legendary Titanic-hunter Robert Ballard), he was one of the first oceanographers to use a combination of manned submersibles and robots to map the ocean world with unprecedented clarity and detail. On behalf of the Woods Hole labs, he appears around the country speaking on ocean and water issues.

Small family maple farms in Vermont and New Hampshire are making an impact by being conscientious about global warming and reducing their carbon footprint. Sustainability is now more important than ever to maintain our forests and farms for generation after generation. It may seem like only a little bit of syrup, but it all adds up. Old Video, but good to remember how sustainable real maple syrup is versus dyed corn syrup which uses up tons of fertilizers and pesticides to produce and pollutes the environment to boot. Maple trees just grow and give and pull carbon out of the atmosphere as well. Easy choice.

As oil stocks run low extracting oil from shale, or fracking, is the energy buzz of the year.It's happening worldwide, and in the USA in 34 states. But with environmental and health risks, is it worth it?

In Texas they're used to big oil; for generations it has helped to forge the formidable Texas character. But spreading out across the state is the controversial process of fracking. It involves injecting huge quantities of water and chemicals into the ground, which shatter the shale and release gas and oil. It's part of an accelerated quest within the US for energy independence, to loosen reliance on the Middle East and shoot for homegrown solutions to energy demand. For those working in the industry it's creating rapid wealth and shows no sign of slowing down. "Every day, probably to the end of this world, we'll keep drillin'", says one rig worker. But with otherwise residential neighbourhoods becoming industrial zones, this dangerous process is starting to take a serious toll on the health of local residents. "They're here to rape this land, make as much money as they can and get the hell out of here", says a North Dakota farmer who blames fracking for her failing health. As this process gains momentum across America, fracking is fast becoming a dirty word.

A Film By ABC Australia, Distributed By Journeyman Pictures, March 2012
Watch at Journeyman or downlaod: www.journeyman.tv

Lawrence Anthony (the author of the Elephant Whisperer) passed away this weekend. The herd of elephants at his reserve all came to his house to mourn his passing. It has been said for a long time time that elephants mourn their dead, what more proof do you need. This shows he was one of them. RIP Lawrence Anthony. Tonight at Thula Thula, the whole herd arrived at the main house, home to Lawrence and his wife. They had not seen them at the house for a very long time. Extraordinary proof of animal sensitivity and awareness that only a few human can perceive. And Lawrence was one of them.

"When Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of ‘rogue’ wild elephants on the Thula Thula Game Reserve, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd’s last chance of survival. Dangerous and unpredictable, they were also notorious escape artists, and would be killed if Anthony wouldn’t take them.

As Anthony battled to create a bond with the elephants and save them from execution, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty and freedom."

Buy his book: "Elephant Whisperer" here: www.goodreads.com