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Spielberg’s Jaws kept moviegoers out of the ocean in 1975. That may have been the start of the shark as pop culture monster, but the new SHARK exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art shows many sides to this fascinating – and terrifying – creature. It gives South Floridians one more reason to take advantage of all that’s in our own backyard as part of a summer ‘staycation.’

This exhibit is varied, interesting, fun, and great for adventurous kids and curious adults.

Our Endless Fascination with Sharks

This multi-media exhibit is guest curated by world famous marine artist Richard Ellis. MOAFL’s latest showcase is presented in conjunction with Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center. If you enjoy Shark Week or Deadliest Catch, then you’ll love this thrilling collection.

Paintings by Guy Harvey and Others

This event is family-friendly, so bring your kids along for this multi-media adventure. A free app is available via the MOAFL website so that the audience can experience the exhibit before ever going. Famous marine artists such as Guy Harvey and Robert Longo are featured in this exhibition. Also on display are wildlife illustrator Marc Dando’s watercolors. These renowned artists depict the many different species of sharks, including angel sharks, sleeper sharks, and tiger sharks.

Jaws Gallery

Of course, no shark exhibition would be complete without referencing Steven Spielberg’s classic 1975 film Jaws. Original storyboards, film memorabilia, and posters are included in the Jaws gallery and several paintings were donated to the SHARK exhibit by Peter Benchley, the author of the original Jaws novel.

Kids and Conservation Efforts

Nature loving kids will enjoy this exhibit. Also fun for kids and adults are the museum’s shark education stations. Parts of the exhibition also focus on recent advances in shark conservation efforts, as this fearsome fish is rapidly becoming one of the earth’s most vulnerable animals.

If You Go

The Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art is located at 1 East Las Olas Boulevard in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale. For more information about this exhibition, please visit their website or call 954-525-5500. Adults are $10; seniors and military is $7; kids 5 and under are free and kids from 6-17 are only $5.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By Andy Jien

It’s finally time to graduate. No more teachers, no more books, and more recycled presents and green networking ideas for the South Florida grad in your life. They’ve worked hard, studied for countless tests, and paved the way for a bright future. Support their green lifestyle with these meaningful green networking ideas and gifts.

Gifts for High School Grads

This plantable journal is made from 100% recyclable paper and wildflower seeds. When your grad is done planning the future, he or she can plant the journal in the garden and watch flowers grow from their plans. Take advantage of South Florida’s many water sports and treat your grad to snorkeling lessons or a meal at South Florida’s Sublime.

Networking for High School Grads

Checking out a Broward-based Sierra Club group might be fun for just-graduated teens looking to make a difference. Young adults curious about eco-involvement at their future alma matter can search schools and types of networking/school clubs here. Florida schools are all listed here, as are national and international colleges and universities. Your high school grad can also choose from different kinds of eco-based activism and explore the kinds of clubs or groups hosted by each school.

Gifts for College Grads

Gifts for South Florida college grads can vary from a trip to the Keys to a glamour-filled day checking out what’s hot on South Beach.

Networking for College Grads

Networking for South Florida college grads is the next step in building a career they’ll be passionate about. Networking with like-minded people is a key way to create business connections. Direct them to South Florida Green Drinks. SFGD is a thriving network of young professionals who meet once a month in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, or West Palm Beach. Their mission is simple – to provide a way for green/eco-aware professionals to connect in a laid-back, informal setting. This group would be perfect for the new grad looking to make business connections. The president is internationally recognized public speaker and entrepreneur Marci Zaroff. Zaroff serves on several industry boards, such as the Organic Exchange. She is the recipient of several awards for green business, including the Natural Product Industry’s Socially Responsible Business Award. South Florida Green Drink sponsors include Whole Foods and Aubrey Organics. Click here to find a South Florida Green Drink meetup.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By Donostweets

Mother’s Day is just around the corner on Sunday, May 13. On Mother’s Day celebrate mom in environmentally friendly ways and give her a green Mother’s Day.

Body Care

Pamper mom with organic body wash and bath salts. (General body wash often has petroleum or parabins in it, both of which can cause cancer or have other dangerous, long-term side effects). When selecting bath goodies for mom, make sure that they are cruelty free and made without any animal byproducts. Alba Botanica has fantastic parabin/petroleum free body care items. There are many wonderful body scrubs out there, but green, organic scrubs and body washes will protect mom’s health while helping her feel like a queen.

Books

If mom doesn’t already have an e-reader, consider getting her one because the more you read, the greener of an option the e-reader becomes. If she’s an avid reader, pick her up a Kindle or other e-reader so she can download her favorites. If she really loves real books (and really, who doesn’t enjoy curling up with a real book?), get her some gently used books from a site such as Better World Books.

Traveling Mom

While nurturing her kids was probably a great adventure, it’s time for mom to see the world and explore new places. If mom enjoys packing a bag and seeing the world, make sure she’s got the eco-friendly supplies to do it. A stainless steel water bottle is a must have for any traveling mom. If mom’s taking a flight, get her some carbon-offset credits. If she’s the slow-and-easy type of traveler, you might want to plan a train trip for two, so that you and mom can see America from the window of a train. Plus, train travel is one of the greenest ways to explore.

Cards for Mom

While you could go with traditional Mother’s Day cards, let yourself get creative and make her a collage using pictures cut from magazines using what you already have. Get creative with pen, crayons, or even pictures from magazines and put your unique collage into a frame. If you’d rather go with a traditional card, find one printed on recyclable paper.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By Etsy Ketsy

Earth Day is over for 2012, but here are some little-known eco holidays to give us an excuse to celebrate nature. Two holidays focus on penguins, one on trees, and one on….trains? Yes, trains because trains are a fantastic way to travel green (and if you can’t migrate on foot like the penguins, may as well hop a train).

National Train Day

On May 9, celebrate this green way to travel by hopping a train to Anywhere, USA. Remember, trains are a wonder for green travel because they release less carbon emissions than either cars or planes. Plus, train travel is often cheaper than either highway or air travel. On trains, you can get to know your neighbor and experience the beauty of the landscape.

Penguin Appreciation Day

I didn’t know that penguins had a day of honor, but apparently and much to my surprise, they have two. On January 20, penguin lovers now have an excuse to celebrate this adorable, flightless bird, and there are many reasons to appreciate them such as their friendliness and their highly social natures. Clearly, penguins are ready to party down – they even look like they’re wearing tuxedos. (That’s the only penguin joke in here, we promise.)

World Penguin Day

Just in case one 24-hour period to appreciate penguins isn’t enough, celebrate penguins worldwide on April 25. What does one do on penguin day? On either one of these days, learn about penguins by watching the Morgan-Freeman-narrated blockbuster March of the Penguins. You could also help protect these grounded birds from climate change, as researchers believe that penguins who live in Antarctica are in danger from recent warming trends that have impacted their population and their food supply.

Love a Tree Day

For those who feel that Earth Day is too all encompassing of a holiday, the single-minded focus of Love a Tree Day may be just the eco-holiday for you. On May 16, go out and show your trees some affection with Love a Tree Day. How to celebrate? Plant a tree, visit your favorite woodland area, water a tree by soaking the root system, or simply kick off your shoes and wander around a national park. There are plenty of tree traits to love: their shade, their beauty, and the fact that they produce oxygen and clean the air. So, spend some quality tree time on May 16th. (We won’t tell.)

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Northeast Region

When my favorite local and green bookseller Danielle recommended The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, I was intrigued just from her description. “It’s about this couple who leaves the big city and opens a farm. One of the guys used to work for Martha Stewart, I think. You’ll love it.” She took the book from the stand behind the counter and handed it to me. I took it home and then spent the next two days devouring it and laughing hysterically.

City Slickers Turned Country Farmers

New York Times Bestselling Author Josh Kilmer-Purcell (I Am Not Myself These Days; Candy Everybody Wants) and his partner Brent Ridge, a doctor and a former executive of Martha Stewart Living, are stars of the docu-series The Fabulous Beekman Boys, the Green Planet tv show which is now moving to the Cooking Channel for its third season. Consider The Bucolic Plague a deeper, witty look at the same premise explored in the show: a city couple decides to become farmers.

Living the Questionable Dream

We’ve all had this time-tested dream: leaving the big city with your significant other for a gentler, calmer life Away From It All. Anytime pop culture wants to chuckle with mingled jealousy and relief, we’re bound to watch a story about city slickers who try to take on country life. Usually, they go on vacation and find a gorgeous vacation spot surrounding a “fixer upper” house, and voila! It’s time to make arrangements to move to the countryside and Experience Life. What happens? The inevitable: stress, too much fresh air, and the growing horror that owning a tremendous farm may have its drawbacks.

And that’s exactly what happens to our heroes.

Honest and Hilarious

Josh and his partner Brent take a trip to upstate New York, fall in love with and purchase the two-hundred-year-old Beekman Mansion, and slowly become “gentleman farmers,” eventually starting the Beekman 1802 mercantile, a company that also partners with Williams-Sonoma on “the world’s largest community garden”.

The Bucolic Plague is hilarious and touching. This is the book that David Sedaris would have written if he’d decided to live on a farm. “The last time I saw 4 A.M., I was tottering home in high heels and a matted wig,” quips Josh in the opening lines of the book. That line starts one of the funniest scenes in the entire book as Josh transports five baby goats to from update New York to the city for their appearance on The Martha Stewart Show. However, Josh doesn’t listen to Farmer John, his caretaker, and promptly overfeeds the baby goats, resulting in a gagging Josh, a very smelly three-hour car trip, and an irritated Brent.

The Bucolic Plague is very, very funny and very honest look at life on a farm after big city life. For more Fabulous Beekman Boys fun, check them out on Beekman1802.com or look for the third season on the Cooking Network.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By greginhollywood

The 42nd Annual Earth Day is almost here! Get ready for some fun family celebrations during the weekend of April 21. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970 at a time of extreme over-consumption. What began 42 years ago as a grassroots celebration has now become an internationally recognized day to honor the environment. Earth Day has become instrumental in many laws, including the passage of the Clean Air Act.

Celebrate sustainability and nature with two local festivals. They’re both on the same day, and both promise to be a blast. Why not be a green party animal and go to both festivals?

Hugh Taylor Birch State Park : Make Earth Day Every Day!

The first Earth Day festival is at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park on Saturday, April 21 from 10 am to 5pm. Be sure to bring little ones for this celebration. They’ll be activities offered for kids by organizations such as the Girl Scouts of America, Trash to Treasure, Camp Live Oak, the fantastic Kids’ Ecology Corps, and Lori’s Beakers and Bugs Company. For adults, they’ll be chances to volunteer (including a sea turtle rescue), ecology-focused workshops, organic and vegan food, and live music. Activities will also include free giveaways and live entertainment, including a drum circle.

Marando Farms: Earth Day Celebration

Come out to Fort Lauderdale’s Marando Farms on Saturday, April 21 from 10am to 2 pm. Kids can enjoy face painting and a bounce house. Adults will enjoy the many varieties of organic food available. There will also be live music and a guest speaker from GMO Free Florida, Trish Sheldon.

If You Go

The Hugh Taylor Birch State Park Make Earth Day Every Day celebration is located at 3109 East Sunrise Blvd in Fort Lauderdale. Go here for more information.

The Earth Day Celebration at Marando Farms is located at 1401 Southwest 1st Ave in Fort Lauderdale. Call Marando Farms at 954-294-2331 or go here.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By dougww

Earth Day officially began on April 22, 1970 and was founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. I urge you to take advantage of the fact that Earth Day falls on a Sunday this year – go out and celebrate it, don’t just hear about it second-hand.

My first memory of an Earth Day celebration was in 1990. I was eleven and I was running wild with some friends on the Ridge, a patch of land in-between Pine Island Road and Nob Hill Road in Plantation, Florida. All I remember of that day is a lot of talks about recycling and soda cans. I stacked old soda cans and then my friends and I excitedly put them into big red bins marked for that purpose. There were balloons. My cousin rolled down a hill, narrowly missing an anthill, but this was just another excuse for the sweaty, curious lot of us to poke at some insects. Not bad for a first earth day: soda, tin cans, and a lot of bugs.

When I was growing up, a best friend of mine lived in walking distance from the Ridge, and we’d go there all the time. We didn’t care about what danger might exist. All that mattered for us was to be free in nature. We’d stay in the woods so long that her parents yelled themselves hoarse trying to get us to come inside. But we – especially I – couldn’t be distracted. Light changes in the woods, blazing forth when you walk out of a cluster of trees. Those times represented freedom and joy, independence and adventure. I wish everyone that feeling at least once in their lives, especially the kids of today, who are growing up in a world where technology may one day entirely eclipse the natural world. Let’s make it up to us – and use this Earth Day to renew our commitment to protecting the environment.

Here are some things to do on Earth Day.

Picnic

Make the kids turn off their electronic devices and go on a picnic. Enjoy being outside.

Pretend to be Ansel Adams

Got junior explorers? Feel like being an explorer yourself? Pay attention to what’s around you. Take pictures of bugs and of the natural world.

Take the Time

Find a local celebration or simply make the time to go for a walk. Make this a perfect time to celebrate the value of the present and our hopes for the future.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By ax2groin

One of the easiest ways to go green is by reusing items and recycling your old stuff. My old high school friend Allie was the queen – I mean the past master – of thrift stores. Once, I watched her find a pair of Michael Kors jeans – retail value of $100 – for a mere five bucks. “Get them. You need these.” They were two sizes too small, but I bought them – and still have them, a proud souvenir of a good thrifting day.

I’ve been to them all: Goodwill, garage stores, and swap parties, but so far nothing has rocked my world harder than Out of the Closet. Billed as “the world’s most fabulous thrift store,” Out of the Closet has many locations spanning California, the new store in Amsterdam, and four right here in South Florida. The two Broward locations are right in the “gayborhood” of Wilton Manors and one located just a few moments away from Wilton Manors in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Sunrise Blvd.

Free HIV/AIDS Tests

Many Out of the Closet locations provide free and confidential AIDS testing and counseling. The tests are conducted in a private section of the store. Several of the South Florida locations offer this free service. For a complete list of the locations that offer free HIV/AIDS tests, please go here. The stores also benefit the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, so when you shop at OftC, your money is going to a very good cause.

Books, Clothes, and More

I’ve been to both the Wilton Manors location and the Sunrise location. The Wilton Manors location is just off Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors, Florida. The Sunrise Blvd location is in a huge freestanding building. It reminded me of a John Waters movie, with just that kind of wacky, kitschy vibe. If you like your thrifting with a bit of flash, check it out. My personal OftC Haul consisted of a half-filled journal, a book with a love letter scribbled on the end pages, and many tee shirts, one featuring Speed Racer (Go, go, Speed Racer, gooo!). There are pride buttons and bracelets aplenty, especially at the Sunrise location, which is bright and airy – a fun place to spend a long weekend looking at interesting and quirky odds and ends.

Pick Up

Out of the Closet will come to your house to collect old stuff, too. (Warning for the shy: the second the massive pink and blue truck pulls into your neighborhood, you will instantly be – just as the truck reads – out of the closet.)

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By anna_logical

On Monday April 16, 2012, environmentalist and poet Lola Haskins will read from her work at Broward College, from 12:30 to 1:45 pm as part of Broward College’s Environmental Week.

Acclaimed Poet

Haskins has been published in many acclaimed journals and publications, including The Atlantic and The London Review of Books. She’s written over ten books of poetry, starting with the 1993 Iowa Poetry Prize Winner Hunger and ending with her most recent book of poems Still, the Mountain, which won a 2010 Florida Book Award prize. Haskins often writes about the wonder of nature, including poems that explore Florida’s natural settings. “Prayer for the Everglades” is featured in the prose collection, Book of the Everglades. Haskins has also been featured on NPR.

Local Activist

Haskins is a board member of the Florida-based organization, Florida Defenders of the Environment, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental education and protection since it began in 1969. Currently, the Florida Defenders remain an active and important part of Florida’s quest for environmental justice and are vocal advocates for environmental protection.

Her writings about nature can be found in two university press books: Wild Heart of Florida and Visions of Florida. To date, she’s won several awards, including two National Endowments for the Arts fellowships, and several for her cultural affairs involvement. She’s also taken part in many arts projects and stage productions. To learn more about Lola Haskins, please visit her website at www.lolahaskins.com.

If You Go

Lola Haskins will be reading from her work at Broward College. For more information about this free event, please visit Broward College’s website or call Dr. Barbra Nightingale at 954-201-8873.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By heraldpost

Easter was on April 8th. It’s time for Peter Cottontail to hop away down the bunny trail, which means that it’s time for us to figure out what to do with all the fake grass, baskets, and all the other colorful Easter goodies. If you were one of the people who purchased the millions of Easter baskets or artificial grass that leave store shelves every year, here’s what to do with them.

Round Up the Rabbits

Large and small, stuffed or chocolate – in the aftermath of Easter, bunnies are everywhere… like a post-holiday Watership Down. If you’re sick of small and fluffy (or if the little ones are bunnied out), round up the rabbits for an impromptu trip with the baskets – and donate them to a thrift store or charity.

Have a Swap

Have a post-Easter swap party and collect all the bunnies, baskets, leftover candy, and other goodies to trade with friends.

Chocolates

Consumers purchase an amazing 90 million chocolate bunnies per Easter. Organic chocolate is the way to go, but if somehow you still have leftover chocolate, bring it to work instead of throwing it out.

Baskets

Thrift stores love baskets, even Easter ones, so round up your slightly used Easter baskets and drop them off at your nearest Goodwill or children’s hospital.

The Problem of the Fake Grass

Fake grass from Easter baskets can be easily found at any drug store or dollar store in America. Instead of fake grass, next year try shredding paper for the Easter “grass”. That way, the whole thing can be recycled at the end of the holiday. If you’d rather stay away from paper for Easter, wadding up a pastel tee shirt is a great idea, so it can be reused – and cleaned – year after year. But what if you’re already sitting on an unfortunate mound of fake grass? Well, save it with your stamps and boxes, and use it to cushion the next present you buy. Moving or packing? Use some of the fake grass to provide padding for breakables or keep it handy for some arts and crafts projects at local schools.

By Marissa Cohen

Photo By Barking Cats