This week, we are back with Justin from Episode 9. Justin has worked in the area of sustainable development and the environment in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Peru and the states. Ever since I’ve known him, he’s always had a book in hand, taking advantage of any chance to read throughout his day. He gives us a run-down of some of his favorite green books which include: Eco Pioneers by Steve Lerner, Plan B 3.0 by Lester Brown, The Natural Step for Communities by Sarah James & Torbjorn Lahti, Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman, Permaculture a Designer’s Manual by Bill Mollison, and Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken. All of these books are available at your local library and Plan B 3.0 can be downloaded for free from the Earth Policy Institute.

During a recent road trip to Oregon, we spoke with Justin Overdevest of Connecting Oregon for Rural Entrepreneurship (CORE). In partnership with Americorps, the University of Oregon, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Justin and various local groups are working to change the economic landscape of the Central Oregon Coast. Justin talks about the philosophy of the program and describes some of the projects in the works. They include everything from green initiatives, to food production, to arts and crafts. We meet Ryan Roberts, a young photographer who is involved with CORE. He shows us some of his photos that display the natural beauty of Oregon along with the economic reality of living on this rural coast.

Here’s a roundup of various green rappers and some of their musical stylings:

-Its a Disgrace by Cypher:Dissident.
-Pas de Feu by MC Tino34, a rapper from Togo.
-Charris Ford, aka the Granola Ayatollah of Canola
-My Name is Alex, and his sometimes band The Blood Thirsty Vegans
-My Life and Yours… its a British female green rap invasion!
-X10 performing their C02 rap with a dancing polar bear.

Oh, and last but not least you got our very own Green Rapper.

For our first episode, we visit our good friends at the Crissy Field Center. The Center is a certified green business and an awesome place where kids learn how to protect the environment.

This video was shot in 2007 during various trips to National Parks on the West Coast. After hearing the buzzword “Watershed Event” thrown around in the political arena, we put this song and video together to shed light on environmental issues and personal responsibility. This was put together before Greenrapper.com had come about, and is slightly political, but if you’ve gotten this far, you probably won’t be offended.