Yesterday, we had out first SLAP meeting. It went great! there were over 20 people that showed up, and almost all of them signed up to help!


I gave a small presentation explaining everything to the kids who attended. Then I passed around a sheet to sign up. For the meeting, I developed a SLAP “time line of completion”. What a boring title…


This is what the time line looks like (Sorry for the bad quality):

So here’s how it works…


I’m thinking we’ll start to collect designs now and have them all in by the beginning of February. We’ll start researching the source materials (What will it be made out of? wood, metal, paper, etc.), and have that done by February too. So then in February we’ll start manufacturing the 120 (or so) signs. We should have that finished by April
Also, on Nov. 17th (NEXT saturday), we’ll have a meeting to go out and identify each location.I’ve mapped out a general idea of where each sign should be, but after we split up into teams, we’ll go out into each of the sections and find exact locations. We’ll take a picture, tell who it’s owned by (business, private (someone’s house), city, etc.), say if it would look fine there, and so on…


Also, on January 22nd, we’ll have another meeting to learn how to get permission. There’s a process we have to learn. We can’t just walk up to someone and ask, “can we stick a giant pole in your front yard?” We’ve gotta have mad permission-asking skills…


So, we’ll start getting permissions then, and probably be done by the time the signs are done being made, which is the beginning of April.


We have PR and advertising going from march to the middle of April. That’s when we start advertising for the project. We’ll probably be in the newspapers a bunch, and maybe even on TV!


So, then, the final installation date in April 22nd, Earth Day. I think we can do all this in that time, but we’ll have to work hard, and we can’t just sit and wait for it to happen. Anyone else who would like to help, just make a comment here or email me.


Thanks!

The annual Bioneers conference was held last weekend, and it was so awesome!


Bioneers is a huge conference. I think that about 10,000 people attended. It was a huge event.


I was only a *minority* so I had to sit in a tent with all the other *minorities* and watch the main speakers on a big screen. There were 15 morning speakers throughout all three days. After they spoke, there was a lunch, and then about 5 optional workshops.


I was really inspired by the whole thing. I would have to say my favorite speaker was Jay Harmon, founder of PAX scientific.


Jay’s work with PAX is really interesting. His whole thing is “copying how nature does it.” So, for example, they make boats shaped like dolphins. They also look at the natural flow of things, and use that to make more advanced technologies that are better for the environment.


I learned how common the spiral is. It’s everywhere! tornadoes, waves, galaxies… They like to use the spiral in their products.


One of my favorites is called the PAX mixer.


If water sits to long in a tank or something, it started to get toxic, so what do they do now? They put more chemicals in… But at PAX, they whip out the ol’ spiral.





This machine goes at the bottom of a big vat and spins around really fast. It makes a big whirlpool, which mixes the water so it doesn’t sit for too long. It’s really a genius idea.


Overall, I was inspired that there’s so many people doing something. It helped me understand that the time to make change is now.

It has finally come down to it. It’s time to start working on SLAP!

SLAP stands for Sea Level Awareness Project.


This event is trying to get the general public to know what the dangers are. We’ll be putting blue lines ten feet up specific poles around Ventura. The poles are going to be ten feet above sea level. So, if we let Greenland melt and sea level rise 20 feet, the sea level would be at the level of the blue line.


Under the blue line, at about eye level, there will be a sign. It will say something like, “If we continue to do nothing in the face of Global Warming, the blue line would be where sea level falls. You would be 10 feet underwater.” And then under that, “Go to kids-vs-global-warming.com to join the cause.”


Here’s a little diagram I made:

But we won’t be able to just walk right up to city street poles and nail big blue lines up there. There’s a lot we have to do before we can even think about it.


First, we need to get the city’s permission. That will be the hard part. There was someone from Santa Barbara who had a similar idea. He was going to draw a blue line 20 feet above sea level on the ground. Here’s his website: http://lightblueline.com/.


But unfortunately, they couldn’t get some of the approvals. The city said that “house values would drop if they were on the wrong side of the line.” hmm… That just made me laugh out loud.


But I think that if a kid did it, it would be harder for them to reject. So we can do it. I just need a couple other people to help me.

August 7,8: Youth Summit through Green Ambassadors

“Be Cool, Be Green” is a gathering of youth in Downtown Los Angeles to encourage kids to get involved in green activism. It’s a great way for us to learn about Green Careers, to take a Green Tour of Downtown L.A., and to create and participate in a community service action, such as street theater, or creating a cool community space in the concrete jungle!

I’m going to be giving my first Kids vs Global Warming presentation at the event. I invite all of you to come and join in this event. If you live in Ventura county, I’d be happy to carpool with you.

Check out the website for the Green Ambassadors: (Be Cool Be Green is on the “News/Events” section)

http://www.greenambassadors.org/

Apply Now

My day at Scripps Institution of Oceanography was probably one of the funnest days I’ve ever had. It made the whole issue more real for me, even the possibility of making a difference. The people at Scripps were really exited about me being there. They were enthusiastic about every aspect of me being there. It was so exiting for every one that a kid my age could be so into the issue.

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