Celebrate Epic Thanks This Thanksgiving

Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category

Celebrate Epic Thanks This Thanksgiving

November 23rd, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 5 Comments »

Welcome to the season of Thanksgiving. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving the past few years without #EpicThanks, a project of Epic Change by my good friends Stacey and Sanjay and their countless amazing friends, volunteers and supporters. Epic Change amplifies the voices and impact of grassroots changemakers and social entrepreneurs. I’ve written about their fundraising projects here, here and here. I thought it was time for another voice to be heard!

Make a donation here:

This is a guest post written by Adriana Mistick, a junior at Wheaton College. She also happens to be my sister! This past summer she had the incredible opportunity to go volunteer with Mama Lucy at Sheperds Junior School in Arusha, Tanzania. This is her story.

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Addy and the students from Sheperds Junior School, Summer 2011

I’ve sat down to write about my summer in Tanzania so many times without ever being able to find the words or the descriptions that are just right. I’ve decided now that it was one of those experiences I will never fully be able t explain or attempt to show with photos because what I really want is for everyone to be able to go and experience it for themselves.

It was early this year when I decided I wanted to do something different for the summer. I was about halfway through college at that point and had been lucky enough to take some time off early in college to help me get my head on straight. Now I guess you could say I’m focused. On what, you ask? Water and teaching kids, or teaching anyone I can, about water and our environment. I’m a self-proclaimed “water junkie”. Thinking about my summer and not knowing where to start, my sister Sloane (maybe you guys know her??) was eager to help me find a good match in terms of location and program. The moment I told her what I was thinking she had something perfect in mind but still worked wonders by facebooking, tweeting and emailing a personal ad for her baby sis.

EPIC CHANGE. That’s where Sloane’s mind was from the start and from the moment she first told me about meeting Stacey Monk at a conference and following their progress, that’s where my mind was too.
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The Best Part About A National Park Pass

August 25th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. 1 Comment »

Photo courtesy of Taylor Davidson

I absolutely love National Parks. It’s amazing to me that my very first visit to one wasn’t until I was 22 when I went to Acadia National Park in Maine. At the time, my friends were somewhat shocked. Me? Camping? In the most wonderful turn of events, turns out I liked it. No…loved it.

Through the years I’ve visited a great many more, including most of the parks in the West. All special, all wonderful. However for the last year and a half, the one I’ve been lucky enough to visit again and again is Shenandoah National Park. Taylor’s parents live at the base of the park just about Luray, Virginia – and it’s the most amazing getaway. We go and hike every day, kayak on the river, cook dinner every night, and sit on the back deck listening to the creek and on occasion watching the “light show” – the thunder and lightening storms that are so perfect to watch in the wilderness of the East Coast.

My favorite part? Using our National Park Pass. This trip ours had expired and it wasn’t even a second thought at the front gate of the Shenandoah’s that we would buy another. The pass is $80 annually. Some parks charge $30 for a 3/day pass, so if you want to get technical, it’s “worth it” after only a couple of visits.

But it’s well beyond worth it even if you just visited a park once a year. The National Park system is part of my American dream. Preservation and protection to forests and the animals that live in them. When we visit, it’s always a mystery what wildlife we’ll see and that’s part of the fun! And usually something comes over me at some point and I just stop at a big tree, wrap my arms around it and SQUEEZE.

When’s the last time you felt that passionate about nature? It’s really an incredible feeling!

It’s so easy to buy a park pass, for more info look HERE. Looking forward to seeing you on the trails!

Show Me The Green Light At The Grammys

February 17th, 2011, by Sloane Berrent. No Comments »

I wanted to share a recent project I worked on that I’m really proud of with an awesome client, The Grammy’s! Many award shows are just about that ONE night. The Grammy’s have made an effort the past two years to showcase events leading up to The Grammys that are relevant to those in the music community. This year, I worked with SocialPeople on digital strategy and blogger outreach to promote an invite-only event called Show Me The Green Light: A Conversation About Greening The Music Industry.

Between spending five years in LA (lord I miss that place), working and heavily volunteering in the green space, I had a huge list of names of friends, contacts and peers I wanted to invite to the event. I would have attended myself but I had a previous commitment to be in New Orleans last weekend and hard as I try, I just can’t be in two places at once!

I was thrilled to see so many blogs posts, tweets and status updates about the event. I am really excited when my digital work comes together with my passion for sustainability..and music!

Here’s an excerpt from the official press release:

The Recording Academy will partner with Waste Management — the official recycling partner of The Academy and 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards — to present Show Me The Green Light: A Conversation About Greening The Music Industry as part of GRAMMY Week. The event will focus on the incorporation of a reduce, reuse and recycle philosophy and its emerging presence in an ever-changing industrial climate.
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Join Blog Action Day This Friday

October 13th, 2010, by Sloane Berrent. 1 Comment »

“You ain’t gonna miss your water ’til your well runs dry.” – Bob Marley

Almost a billion people on the planet live without access to safe drinking water. Maybe you run a nonprofit that focuses on international access to water, maybe you’re a cause-based blogger, maybe you have heard of organizations like charity:water and water.org but haven’t known what you could do to pitch in and help their cause. Now is your chance to get involved!

Thousands of bloggers are joining together this Friday, October 15th, for Blog Action Day in a unified front to discuss the impact of water. Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. By creating a tidal wave on one unified day, sponsor change.org hopes to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion around an important issue that impacts everyone worldwide.

Why should you get involved? Besides of course that it’s an important global topic, this is a great opportunity to network with other bloggers, nonprofits and activists. Many nonprofits tell us here at WhatGives that you’re looking to join the conversation but don’t have a lot of time. Or that you are looking for others in your space but had limited time and resources to find who the big players are in your space.

Blog Action Day is one of those easy, low-hanging-fruit opportunities to get out there, and blog about water issues. Since access to clean drinking water affects all of us, I encourage you to find a way to make it fit your mission and join this initiative. Much of the cause-based conversation online on Friday will circle around water, and what better opportunity to add your voice to the mix.

Past years have driven ideas, advice, plans, and action to important causes. 2007′s theme was the environment, 2008 was poverty, and last year the conversation was around climate change.
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Pakistan Flood Relief: How You Can Help

August 27th, 2010, by Sloane Berrent. No Comments »

Dangling Feet, Kerala; Courtesy of Taylor Davidson on Flickr

Shocking: The floods in Pakistan are affecting more than six times the number of people affected by the Haiti earthquake. I’ve been looking for ways to give back to help Pakistan. Where to give, where to donate, where to direct people and I came across a few great lists and posts, especially one from The Women’s Conference blog. There is a lot of dialogue about why more people haven’t stepped up to help Pakistan, especially this article from the BBC which points to everything from the media portrayal of Pakistan to threats of terrorism. But let’s be honest, people hurting need the help of those who have the ability to help. Those who are displaced have nothing. Think about what hardship they are certainly experiencing and then please consider taking a moment to donate what you can or help spread the word.

The flooding – which has now affected 20 million people, 8 million of whom need urgent aid washed away infrastructure and has since destroyed much of the country’s farming industry – which employs almost half of the country’s workers.

Pakistan needs our help. Here’s a few ways as to how:

UNICEF: 6 million children have been affected by the floods. Help UNICEF provide them with water, food and medical services.

Red Cross: Red Cross is on the ground, providing relief supplies, mobilizing relief workers and providing financial resources to those in need.

Save the Children: Save the Children is rushing essential supplies to children and their families.

Oxfam: Oxfam is providing hygiene, household and clean up kits to families in Pakistan.
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