Majora Carter contributed greatly to leading efforts to make ghettos, green, clean and sustainable in New York. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html

We have an opportunity to apply the same principle in San Francisco. What would you do to fight for environmental justice in areas such as Bayview Hunters Point, Visitation Valley, Mission District and other under-served areas with low income and forgotten?

As an examples...in an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx -- and shows how minority neighborhoods suffer most from flaw...

Credits
"Greening the ghetto | Video on TED.com

The following post, third in the Net2 2012 Look Ahead series, focuses on protips for making the way you run your office more environmentally friendly. The article is authored by Jim Lynch who is TechSoup Global's Co-Director of the GreenTech program, as well as the Community Driven Innovation team member. Jim has been involved in creating all of TechSoup’s environmental programs. He has written extensively on electronics recycling and reuse, cloud computing, greening offices, and many other green IT subjects. Over the years he has been interviewed on computer recycling and related issues by the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Voice of America, PC World Magazine, and many other news outlets. 

Have you successfully moved from paper-based direct mail fundraising to digital tools (email, websites, video, social media, widgets, and/or mobile)? Want to gloat about your successes and possibly make some (more) money as well?

The Paperless Choice Challenge is rewarding successful, creative, replicable campaigns that use electronic  fundraising tools by giving away eight prizes totalling over $20,000. Entries can be submitted between June 15 and September 15, 2010. 

Every month, a group called #4Change organizes open & lively conversations about how web-connected communities and our use of social media tools are helping to create change in the world. #4Change Chats are hosted on Twitter - Read “Join the Conversation” below for ways to jump into the discussion.

The next #4change chat is this Thursday – we hope you can join us!

Details:

• Date: Oct, 8th

• Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)

• When: 2 – 4 pm US Pacific Time, 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time, 10pm - 12am London, UK (Late!)

• Topic: How does the web & social media change the way we address climate change?

Within the next month or two, events are being hosted in British Columbia, Paris, and San Francisco – helping to bring together and foster collaboration for those working within the environmental & social change space.

I wonder if there may be a unifying force striving through all of these gatherings - as if around the globe we are seeing that a renewed sense of collaboration is a major key to addressing our world's challenges. Take a look at the events and see for yourself!

Josh Catone (@Catone) recently shared a post on Mashable entitled, How To Use the Web for Socially Responsible Shopping. In the post, Josh profiled nine sites that “offer information for the conscious consumer about the companies and products we buy every day.”

Josh did an excellent job highlighting and bringing together an array of awesome tools: Knowmore, GoodGuide, Crocodyl, ClimateCounts, Transnationale, Corporate Critic, Citizens Market, Do the Right Thing, and Source Map.

And then in the comments, the Mashable community shared more great resources: Tuggly, MadeinNations, Business & Human Rights, EthiScore, Vanno, GreenLighted, and Zumer.

As well, there are even more useful sites which feature green & sustainability ratings – like 3rdWhale & GenGreen (who announced a partnership last night) GreenAmerica, Bilumi, BadBuster, & SustainLane. The list definitely goes on!

The thing is, after you read the post – you're left wondering: “Who is bringing all this data together?”

Who's making it easy to search across these sites? Who's working on making sense of the data – to potentially create aggregate profiles or scores. Who's working on open standards and formats so sites can talk to each other? Who's facilitating an Open API (like the Social Actions API & WiserEarth API) – to spread this information where it can be most relevant online? Who's figuring out the business & collaboration models so open sharing can be more likely to happen?

Catone's post changes the game because it forces us to look at the green shopping sector as a whole and wonder how we can help take it to the next level.

What do you think? How can we support and leverage this exploding sector to ultimately empower millions of people to shop in ways that create a better environmental & social impact?

Excited for your thoughts!

An entirely non-commercial forum site for local green groups and organizations has been created at Local Green Forum.    It is designed specifically for sharing information about environmental action at the local level.  This is an excerpt from the home page –

"This is a place where local communities can share information.  Although our site has been created for the Green Team at East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, WA, other church groups, schools, university groups, and local organizations are encouraged to use the site as well.  Originally created for the Puget Sound area, our forum can be easily expanded to accommodate local groups outside our area.  
 
Our Purpose

This month's Net2 Think Tank question is: How do real-world (offline) events fit into social media conversations and campaigns?

My thinking: Social media conversations and online campaigns create whole new models for bringing together & powering the progressive movement. Although at core: People coming together in the real-world are key to fueling how we organize for change. We need real world events to be a central part of our online organizing. We need offline events to meet each other, bond eye-to-eye, and forge the collaborations that will make our social networks stronger, better connected, and ultimately transformative.

So - a major question is: How can your online community also support events in the real world? What kind of offline events are the best fit for your community? And what real world event models can you learn from or partner with? Well, let's look at five different event types and see if one or more of 'em sparks some ideas for your community!

Over the last year, a lot has changed in how we access social and environmental information about the products we purchase. A small but growing army of mobile apps have flourished that now help consumers make more informed and "green" decisions. What makes mobile apps so innovative in this space is their potential to help consumers access crucial data at the point of purchase. The idea behind mobile apps is that you can just whip out your cell phone, look up a product while you shop, and make more informed purchase decisions.

These apps raise a lot of interesting questions around best approaches, collaboration, and potentially the limits of mobile technology. Before we dive into the questions, though, let's review some apps!

The Yahoo! Green Award is back for a third year at the NetSquared Conference.  Yahoo! is committed to empowering our communities to make a positive impact on the environment, and has reviewed the project submissions included in the “Environment & Energy ” Cause Area of the NetSquared Global Project Gallery on the NetSquared Web site looking for the most innovative green technology project to receive a $5,000 Yahoo! Search Marketing award.  And the winner is...

DatAgro Receives the Yahoo! Green Award!