One of the best books I’ve read all year is Half the Sky, co-authored by Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl Wudunn. If you haven’t already read it, you definitely should, no excuses.

The book is about establishing women’s rights -- the issue that Kristof has deemed the “great moral imperative of the 21st century,” following defeating totalitarianism in the 20th century and abolishing slavery in the 19th century. Kristof writes about sex trafficking, rape, abuse and maternal health issues that are plaguing women all over the world, not just in far off third world countries, but right here in America, too. The accounts are raw, vivid and hard to swallow, but they also instill in you a sense of obligation to do something about all the oppression. Aside from declaring that it is our moral obligation to free women from suffering around the globe, (a concept few would argue with) Kristof is also extremely adamant about the importance of investing in the untapped power of women, which would improve our society not only socially, but economically (an idea that may be less obvious). 

As one of Brown’s honorary degree recipients at this year’s graduation, Kristof gave a lecture entitled, “The World and Women” on the day before commencement. Although much of the content of the talk was taken from the book, I thoroughly enjoyed watching him convey his message in person to a rapt audience. Following the lecture, Kristof signed copies of his book, and although I already owned one, I bought a fresh one for him to sign! Check it out below!

As a perfect way to close out the Earth Week celebration, Bill McKibben, environmental author, activist and 350.org founder, gave an inspiring keynote speech that combined the right amount of global warming-related facts and fear-provoking projections with advice and encouragement about how we can make a change in the world. While I was moved by his talk, I still was not persuaded to become an activist myself. And as I've already learned the hard way, if I can't convince myself that I'm passionate about organizing, I certainly can't convince others that it's what I want to do either (cough cough, Green Corp and Environment America). McKibben did, however, remind me why I'm passionate about sustainability and revived my drive to search for an environmentally-related career no matter how tempting it is to pursue another (more well-traveled) path. 

Following the speech at the private reception held for McKibben and a few lucky guests, some friends and I got the opportunity to talk to the "eco-pied piper" (as my dad jokingly referred to him in a text message) himself. We found him hiding from the crowd, loitering by the compost mound in the student garden. Having eavesdropped on a number of conversations he'd had with the other guests inside, all of which revolved around his speech and what advice he could offer to people who came to him with (dumb) questions, I wanted to change it up a bit. I revealed to McKibben my "dirty little environmental secret" which is that even though I'm fully aware that cars emit a considerable amount of carbon into the atmosphere, I still LOVE driving. In fact, I'm planning a cross-country road trip this summer. After getting that off my chest, I asked THE environmentalist himself what his dirty little secret is. Here it is folks: Bill McKibben loves to telemark ski. He always has the latest and greatest equipment and before he goes out on a trip, he waxes his skies with extremely toxic chemicals (so bad that he has to wear a mask...can't be good for the environment!!). So there you have it, even the eco-guru himself isn't perfect.

There was something so refreshing about talking to Bill McKibben. I don't know whether it was his totally relaxed demeanor or the fact that he wasn't pressuring all of us students to join his movement without looking back. But I have a new perspective on my life after college and I'm pretty excited about it. 

Oh yeah, and I got a picture with him (and Adam). And he signed my copy of his latest book, Eaarth. 

You might think that at a progressive university like Brown, where the student body has acquired a reputation (only partially rightly so) of being a bunch of tree-hugging hippies, the celebration of Earth Day would be a long standing tradition. But, you'd be wrong. While the administration has made a number of substantial commitments to environmental sustainability including reducing energy use and carbon emissions, increasing waste diversion rates, implementing green building principles, purchasing locally sourced food and materials and revamping public transportation initiatives, there's been very little fanfare surrounding the actual Earth Day. In recognition of this deficiency of hoopla, emPOWER has taken on the challenge of spreading awareness and involving the student community in a seven-day EARTH WEEK to celebrate our planet. We've worked long and hard to incorporate events led by each of the environmental subgroups of emPOWER as well as any other student groups on campus who want to get involved. We've also enlisted the support of academic departments, dining services and facilities. As you can tell, we're doing it big this year!

You'll find coverage on Brown's official website, here. And, check out the full schedule of events here!

I can't say what's going on in people's homes, but from what I can tell from the hotels we frequented during our two week adventure, conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions is on the minds of people in tourism and commerce in India. Every hotel we visited encouraged the reuse of towels, had exclusively florescent bulbs, power outlets with on/off switches that prevented energy loss from “phantom loads,” and master key switches at the entry doors that cut off all power on exiting the room. And even some of the smaller accommodations like the Brunton Boatyard in Fort Kochi and the Wilderness Camp in the Thar Desert sported spanking new solar panels and solar hot water heaters. We even saw small solar arrays on the houseboats in Kerala! While these energy saving improvements seem minimal, it’s more than I’ve seen in many of the American hotels we’ve visited in recent years. Aside from the hotel efforts, there was evidence that solar-powered rickshaws are coming soon to the traffic-choked streets. Ironically, we got a glimpse of what the rickshaws might look like in the workshop at the vintage car museum. While there were plenty of trucks hauling goods, there were also bicycles and pedal rickshaws piled high with deliveries. Ride sharing is a way of life. Several of the stores and stands we visited packed our purchased items into shopping bags made out of recent newspapers rather than plastic.


What struck me most, though, was what I saw – or didn’t see – every time we took off in an airplane for another city. Even over the biggest metropolises of Delhi and Mumbai, the number of glimmering lights was a tiny fraction of what I’ve seen over even small and medium-sized cities in the West. With India growing at its current staggering rate, an increase in the number of lights is, of course, inevitable. We can only hope that the lion’s share of them will someday soon be powered by renewable energy sources.