01/5/12

Announcing the Winners of the 2011 Frogs Are Green Photography Contest

We are excited to announce the winners of the second annual 2011 FROGS ARE GREEN photo contest. We were thrilled to receive such fabulous entries, and it was difficult to pick winners. We hope you will continue your adventures as amphibian photographers and enter next year’s photo contest!

We accepted photos in two categories: Frogs in the Wild and Backyard Frogs.

FROGS IN THE WILD

Winner

Photograph by Sara Viernum, Barking Treefrog holding onto to a reed in a vernal pond in the Talladega National Forest in Northeastern, Alabama.

Photograph by Sara Viernum, Barking Treefrog holding onto to a reed in a vernal pond in the Talladega National Forest in Northeastern, Alabama.

Honorable mentions:
"Froggy Condo" taken at Jenna Wild Life Preserve Swamps in Dixi County, Florida, by Tina Calderin.

"Froggy Condo" taken at Jenna Wild Life Preserve Swamps in Dixi County, Florida, by Tina Calderin

Tree frog in Lily, photographed by Brian Blom, Deerwood, MN.

Tree frog in Lily, photographed by Brian Blom, Deerwood, MN.

BACKYARD FROGS
Winner:
Photograph by Krista Herbstrith who says, "I was showing my son the frog on the flowers from the garden, when the frog leaped and landed on my son's face," Northfield, MN.

Photograph by Krista Herbstrith who says, "I was showing my son the frog on the flowers from the garden, when the frog leaped and landed on my son's face," Northfield, MN.

Honorable mention:
Photograph by Sara Viernum - Barking Treefrog is hunting for insects under the front porch light on a house in Oxford, Alabama.

Photograph by Sara Viernum - Barking Treefrog is hunting for insects under the front porch light on a house in Oxford, Alabama.

SPECIAL MENTION
This photo by Jan Knizek wasn’t easily categorized, but we wanted to give it  special mention because it poignantly tells the story of  how European Green Toads and other amphibians are losing their habitats through over development. This is one of a very few breeding sites of the toads in Prague, Czech Republic, and is currently endangered by a development project.
Photograph by Jan Knizak, Photo taken at the last known breeding site in Prague, Czech Republic, currently endangered by a development project.

Photograph taken by Jan Knizek taken at one of a very few breeding sites in Prague, Czech Republic, currently endangered by a development project.

03/11/10

FROGS ARE GREEN Earth Day Contest

copyright Susan Newman

Design © 2010 Frogs Are Green - Susan Newman

I remember the first Earth Day forty years ago. I did a project with my friend Linda about endangered animals. Everyone in the entire school went outside on a gorgeous spring day to pick up garbage on the roads around the school. We were all so excited.

I think people forget that everyone was excited about Earth Day and about helping the environment then. The issue hadn’t become politicized. The country was united after the polluted Cuyahoga River went up in flames.

Both Democrats and Republicans in Washington supported and passed clear air and water regulations. These new tough laws were incredibly effective. When I was kid growing up on Long Island, you knew you were getting close to New York City because you could see and smell a layer of brown smog above the city. After these regulations were passed, the smog disappeared. Since the Reagan administration, however, tough regulations against corporations and businesses are taboo.

I wish we could recapture this bipartisan environmental effort. President Obama was elected partly because so many young people, motivated by environmental issues, voted for him. It didn’t matter if they were on the right or the left.

On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we’d like you to ignore the politics and recapture this excitement about preserving the environment and about enjoying and reconnecting to nature.

To that end, we’re sponsoring an Earth Day contest (open to all ages).  Please send us one simple practical idea by April 19th that we can all use to help the environment or reconnect with nature, guided by these words:

RENEW

REBUILD

RECONNECT

RETHINK

It doesn’t have to be a grand or complicated idea. For example, maybe someone can think of a way for people to remember to bring reusable grocery bags to the store. The winner, announced on Earth Day, will receive either the poster above or below (printed on FSC certified paper) or a 100% cotton t-shirt or onesie, made and printed in the U.S  (their choice):

design copyright Susan Newman, photo by Dr. Kerry Kriger, Save the Frogs

Design © 2010 Frogs Are Green - Susan Newman, frog photograph courtesy Dr. Kerry Kriger, Save the Frogs