Truthout is pleased to post weekly short videos for middle school-aged kids – and everyone else – about climate change and its effects. “The Green Ninja,” a character created by a climate scientist and his team, provides a way to help us grasp the intricacies of climate change and learn what we personally can do to become involved in fighting it. See additional details about the series or head straight to this week’s episode, “Bike Party.”
A gaggle of Green Ninjas show how they feel about saving the world by riding in a bike party around San Jose, CA. With the catchiest of music and the power of conservation, the party gathered people from all around to enjoy this fantastic social event!
While this video may have some silly lyrics and entertaining dancing, there is a real message behind it all. Riding a bicycle is good for you and good for the planet.
Riding bikes is a very special activity. Not only is it loads of fun, but it also can be a great social experience! Some of the reasons people love riding bikes:
• It is good exercise, keeping your legs and core muscles toned while helping maintain cardiovascular health.
• Riding a bicycle can be social experience, helping you meet new people who also bike.
• Being part of a bike party lets you get fresh air and have fun, which can be mentally refreshing and invigorating. Riding your bike alone or in a bike party not only helps you feel fantastic, but it also benefits the environment:
• Because bicycles release no emissions, they do not use fossil fuels so they release zero carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• Riding a bike is one of the most efficient transportation methods available to the general public, so your energy is never wasted.
• Bike parties reduce the total amount of people driving at the time, meaning less CO2 emissions are released the longer the party goes on!
Start Pedaling!
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.