Eco Company Stories

Bamboo Bijes

Bikes are a great way to reduce fuel consumption, save energy, get exercise and enjoy the great outdoors. But Brendan found a bike maker who has taken sustainability a step further. He makes his bikes from bamboo instead of aluminum or titanium. It's a great way to make a zero energy form of transportation even more eco-friendly!

Biosite

A visit to nature's classroom! Adam reports on an outdoor program where high school students become the teachers working with 4th graders on a trip to the local river. The subject matter is river ecology. The student teachers plan the lessons and teach with passion, and the fourth grade students learn with hands on experience.

Chef Cooper

Menus at most school cafeterias are filled with pizza, corn dogs, grilled cheese and such...simply pulled from the freezer and heated up. But this cafeteria is different. It is run by Ann Cooper, the renegade lunch lady. She is on a mission to provide fresh, organic and healthy foods for students. Jordan caught up with her to get the whole story.

Compost

Jessica gets down to earth, quite literally! She learns how restaurant scraps can provide the nitrogen and wonderful nutrients needed to make the compost that goes back to farms to grow our food.

Aquarium Guides

Eco Company visits the Monterey Bay Aquarium known throughout the world for it's conservation efforts. There are over 35,000 plants and animals in this amazing facility. Jordan gets a special tour with teen volunteers whose messages are music to our ears.

Project Jatropha

Eco Company goes halfway around the world to South India. There, two California, teens have started a program to replace harmful tobacco farming with cultivation of the sustainable Jatropha plants. The fruit from the Jatropha plant produces oil that can made into biofuel. It is an amazing story about gaining the trust of the Indian farmers, and the beginning of a successful transformation.

Living Small

We all know what it means to live "large." But Brendan found one teen aspiring to live SMALL! And he's doing something about it. He's building his own "mini house." It's about 130 square feet and sits on a trailer. It's a home that minimizes the resident's footprint on the planet.

Girl Scouts Clean Up The Beach

Beaches and lakes are popular recreation areas and they often become a wasteland of plastic and garbage that people leave behind. But we found a girl scout troop that has adopted a Northern California beach and is determined to keep it free of trash and waste. Some of what they find is very surprising.

The First Earthday

It was an off-shore oil rig eruption near Santa Barbara in 1969 that created an environmental disaster in that coastal resort area. It was that event that inspired a group of activists to establish the first Earth Day. Adam got the chance to talk with Denis Hayes, one of those founders. He says the impact of that first Earth Day was more than they could have hoped for.

Eco Surfboards

The SURF’S UP!! Surfing is very popular along the West Coast. But have you ever thought about the materials use in making surfboards? Jessica finds one guy who not only gave it some thought, but began making surfboards with non-toxic and sustainable materials. She catches up with him in his shop…and on the waves!