EILANI NAMED FIRST AMBASSADOR OF NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
Race Car Driver Becomes Conservation Activist
NWF Media Contact: Mary Burnette, Burnette@nwf.org
Leilani Münter's Management at Wasserman Media Group: Marissa Nilon mnilon@wmgllc.com, telephone 310-882-4745 and Dan Levy, dlevy@wmgllc.com, telephone 919-256-1600.
RESTON, VA - (March 5, 2009) Some may think that protecting the environment while racing cars is an oxymoron. But not for biology graduate turned race car driver Leilani Münter who is piloting a new Ambassador Program for the National Wildlife Federation. Munter has been racing professionally since 2001 and is on a mission to educate 100 million race car fans about the benefits of living a green lifestyle. At the same time she hopes her efforts will encourage racing sanctioning bodies to increase their environmental initiatives with expanded recycling programs and the use of alternative fuels.
The National Wildlife Federation has established the Ambassador Program because the organization’s leadership believes everyone can make a difference in protecting wildlife and conserving our natural resources. The National Wildlife Federation Ambassador program was created in 2008 to recognize and support high profile individuals who not only excel in their profession, but set an example for the rest of the world in terms of being a good steward of the environment.
Some individuals, like Münter, have stepped up and shown exemplary leadership toward helping the conservation group achieve its goals. The influence Münter has in the racing community and beyond allows her to reach out with credible environmental messages, especially those that relate to reducing carbon, carbon being the major culprit of global warming. In fact, Münter even has a web site called CarbonFreeGirl.com.
“Just because you’re green, doesn’t mean you can’t be fast,” says Münter. “I’m simply bringing my world as a race car driver and environmentalist together.”
Münter is committed to reducing her personal carbon footprint in a variety of ways. She adopts and protects an acre of rainforest for every race she runs to offset her carbon footprint and has been a long time vegetarian and eco activist. She is politically active in the fight for climate legislation and has made several trips to Capitol Hill to speak with Congress on behalf of climate issues. In June 2008 she spoke at a Climate Action Rally on the steps of Capitol Hill alongside Senators Barbara Boxer, Joe Lieberman, and John Kerry.
In 2004 Münter gained the attention of the racing world when she qualified 4th and finished 7th at Texas Motor Speedway in the ROMCO Super Late Model Series. Texas would turn out to be one of Münter’s favorite tracks. She returned to Texas Motor Speedway in 2006 and set a new record when she finished 4th, the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the racetrack. By December 2006 Leilani had raced her way from the short tracks of southern California all the way to the most iconic NASCAR track of them all, the high banks of Daytona International Speedway. She completed her rookie ARCA test at Daytona and even though she was with a small underfunded team, she was 24th out of 57 race cars testing at Daytona.
In 2007 Leilani became the fourth woman in history to race in the Indy Pro Series, the developmental league of IndyCar. She impressed the open wheel racing world when she qualified 5th for her debut. Leilani was running in the top six when a multi car accident took her out of the race.
Münter realizes that being a race car driver involves her in a sport that is not environmentally friendly. That is why she is doing everything she can to reduce her carbon footprint such as using renewable energy, recycling, and adopting tropical rainforest for every race she runs. She believes as citizens of Earth, we all need to work together to take care of our world.
“The situation is dire and requires our urgent attention. Now is the time to make a change. We need to reduce our use of fossil fuels, commit ourselves to renewable energy sources, and conserve the biodiversity that we have on Earth before it is lost forever.”
Münter feels it is an honor and a privilege to serve as a National Wildlife Ambassador. She is looking forward to working with the organization to reach millions of racing fans and others with her message about protecting the world’s natural resources.
“The National Wildlife Federation is grateful to Ms. Münter for her assistance in spreading the word about the importance of reducing our nation’s carbon footprint,”said Larry Schweiger, President of the National Wildlife Federation. “As our first Ambassador, Ms. Münter will serve as a role model for others who have the capacity to reach others with their words and their actions.”
The National Wildlife Federation inspires Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
EcoDaredevil Leilani Munter on NPR!
Driver Wants NASCAR To Go Green
Weekend Edition Saturday, December 27, 2008 · Professional race car driver and environmentalist Leilani Munter's mission for 2009 — to get her sport to go green.
Listen to her HERE
Weekend Edition Saturday, December 27, 2008 · Professional race car driver and environmentalist Leilani Munter's mission for 2009 — to get her sport to go green.
Listen to her HERE
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Ocean Revolution Gear for Ocean Lovers
Ocean Revolution Gear for Ocean Lovers
Following this link to a message from my brother Joshua, who has created beautiful and unique Ocean Revolution belt buckles and pendants to help you support our work and look good.
Following this link to a message from my brother Joshua, who has created beautiful and unique Ocean Revolution belt buckles and pendants to help you support our work and look good.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Baltimore Bioneers: Are you an EcoDaredevil?
BALTIMORE BIONEERS ’08 CONFERENCE: CULTIVATING CHANGE. INSPIRING SOLUTIONS.
Baltimore Bioneers
National Experts to Address Baltimore Conference on Practical Solutions to Protect and Restore Our Communities and Our Earth
When
November 6-9, 2008
November 6, 6-9 pm, Art Reception and Kick‐Off Reception featuring the music of Bossalingo.
November 7-8, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm, Conference
November 9, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, Conference
Where
Maryland Institute College of Art, Brown Center
1301 Mount Royal Avenue, Baltimore MD 21217
What
The 2nd annual Baltimore Bioneers Conference features some of the most insightful, inspiring innovators working to change the region and the world. Witness how the power of collaboration across all disciplines can promote practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring the Earth and healing human communities. Hear from local and recorded* keynotes, workshops, and panelist discussions. More online at www.cultivatingchange.org.
Keynote Speakers
The following speakers are available to speak with the press. Below is listed a schedule of speakers.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, Falvey Hall
9:30 am: Opening by Tracy Ward, publisher, Urbanite a founding sponsor of the conference
11:20 am – 12 pm: Jessica Rimington, founder of One World Youth Project and a senior at Georgetown University – “The Next Generation of Social Change”
12:55 – 1:40 pm: Wallace ‘J.’ Nichols, Ph.D., internationally recognized expert on marine conservation and ocean communication with the California Academy of Sciences and Ocean Revolution ‐ “Jump the Chasm: Are You an EcoDaredevil?”
About Bioneers
Bioneers (www.bioneers.org) is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. Founded in 1990, Bioneers promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring Earth’s imperiled ecosystems and healing our human communities. Baltimore is one of 18 “Beaming Bioneers” cities across the nation.
Baltimore Bioneers Founding Sponsors
CSBA
Tai Sophia Institute
Urbanite
USGBC Baltimore Chapter
2008 Baltimore Bioneers Conference Sponsors
Jim & Patty Rouse Foundation
substance151
Abell Foundation
GOforChange
lori hill event productions
Maryland Institute College of Art
Roland Park Country School
Art on Purpose
Baltimore Community Foundation
Kahn Family Foundation
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Parks & People Foundation
Waldorf School of Baltimore
Woodberry Kitchen ∙
Your Words Worth
Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund
Benchmark Assets Management
Black Oak Associates
CDM eCycling
Kelley Ray Consulting LLC
P. Flanigan & Sons
Reliant Energy
Vangel Paper
Baltimore Bioneers
National Experts to Address Baltimore Conference on Practical Solutions to Protect and Restore Our Communities and Our Earth
When
November 6-9, 2008
November 6, 6-9 pm, Art Reception and Kick‐Off Reception featuring the music of Bossalingo.
November 7-8, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm, Conference
November 9, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, Conference
Where
Maryland Institute College of Art, Brown Center
1301 Mount Royal Avenue, Baltimore MD 21217
What
The 2nd annual Baltimore Bioneers Conference features some of the most insightful, inspiring innovators working to change the region and the world. Witness how the power of collaboration across all disciplines can promote practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring the Earth and healing human communities. Hear from local and recorded* keynotes, workshops, and panelist discussions. More online at www.cultivatingchange.org.
Keynote Speakers
The following speakers are available to speak with the press. Below is listed a schedule of speakers.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, Falvey Hall
9:30 am: Opening by Tracy Ward, publisher, Urbanite a founding sponsor of the conference
11:20 am – 12 pm: Jessica Rimington, founder of One World Youth Project and a senior at Georgetown University – “The Next Generation of Social Change”
12:55 – 1:40 pm: Wallace ‘J.’ Nichols, Ph.D., internationally recognized expert on marine conservation and ocean communication with the California Academy of Sciences and Ocean Revolution ‐ “Jump the Chasm: Are You an EcoDaredevil?”
About Bioneers
Bioneers (www.bioneers.org) is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. Founded in 1990, Bioneers promotes practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring Earth’s imperiled ecosystems and healing our human communities. Baltimore is one of 18 “Beaming Bioneers” cities across the nation.
Baltimore Bioneers Founding Sponsors
CSBA
Tai Sophia Institute
Urbanite
USGBC Baltimore Chapter
2008 Baltimore Bioneers Conference Sponsors
Jim & Patty Rouse Foundation
substance151
Abell Foundation
GOforChange
lori hill event productions
Maryland Institute College of Art
Roland Park Country School
Art on Purpose
Baltimore Community Foundation
Kahn Family Foundation
National Aquarium in Baltimore
Parks & People Foundation
Waldorf School of Baltimore
Woodberry Kitchen ∙
Your Words Worth
Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund
Benchmark Assets Management
Black Oak Associates
CDM eCycling
Kelley Ray Consulting LLC
P. Flanigan & Sons
Reliant Energy
Vangel Paper
Sunday, June 1, 2008
JUNK launches across Pacific today!
As marine debris is one of our main concerns as ocean advocates, I thought everyone would be interested in this creative "EcoDaredevil" project by some of our friends and colleagues...
Crossing the Pacific on Junk raft
A guest post from Anna Cummins (photo at right), education advisor of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.
The average Emerald City reader has likely heard of the infamous "Pacific Garbage Patch," that mythical swath of debris in the Pacific, the size of Texas. Or was it two Texases or wait, twice the size of the moon?
Having recently returned from a month-long research trip through this massive marine landfill, I'll clear up a few misconceptions:
• The garbage does indeed exist. HOWEVER it is not a "patch" of garbage, nor a trash island. It's more like a huge bowl of dilute plastic soup, from California to Japan.
• We can't clean it up, net it away, or sieve it out. It's an area twice the size of the United States, and the debris is too spread out. Imagine a handful of plastic cornflakes sprinkled over a football field. Now imagine 9 million football fields in the Pacific Ocean.
12 years ago, Captain Charles Moore accidentally "discovered" the plastic debris debacle in the North Pacific while sailing an infrequently traveled route from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Stunned by the endless river of plastic junk he found -– toothbrushes, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments –- Moore decided to return with research tools and scientific sampling methods, to better understand what he saw.
In 1999, Moore et al. published the groundbreaking study, 4,200 miles across the Pacific, collecting surface samples the entire way.
What we found this year: the problem has gotten much, much worse. Though our samples are still being processed, Captain Moore guesstimates a fivefold increase in 10 years, bumping plastic to plankton ratios up to 30:1.
And still, we tear through plastic bags and bottles like they're going out of style...
Actually, we'd love to see disposable plastics go out of style. So to bring public attention to the junk in our ocean, we're sailing from Long Beach to Hawaii -- on Junk.

For the last few months, Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Joel Paschal and myself have been creating Junk -– a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles, an old Cessna 310 airplane, and other assorted junk, to sail from Long Beach to Hawaii.
Marcus and Joel will set sail on June 1 from the Long Beach Aquarium, carrying hundreds of individual messages about plastic debris, to be delivered to D.C. legislators next winter. I'll be charting their daily progress from land, keeping up the blog, and praying for gentle, steady winds.
Come on board! To support our mission, write your message in a bottle here. And to see history in the making -- the first ever plastic bottle boat cross the Pacific -- come on down for the June 1 launch party, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Long Beach Aquarium.
Follow the journey at the JUNK blog. And for information, e-mail me at annacummins@gmail.com.
Top photo by Joel Paschal; bottom photo by Peter Bennett
Crossing the Pacific on Junk raft
A guest post from Anna Cummins (photo at right), education advisor of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.
The average Emerald City reader has likely heard of the infamous "Pacific Garbage Patch," that mythical swath of debris in the Pacific, the size of Texas. Or was it two Texases or wait, twice the size of the moon?
Having recently returned from a month-long research trip through this massive marine landfill, I'll clear up a few misconceptions:
• The garbage does indeed exist. HOWEVER it is not a "patch" of garbage, nor a trash island. It's more like a huge bowl of dilute plastic soup, from California to Japan.
• We can't clean it up, net it away, or sieve it out. It's an area twice the size of the United States, and the debris is too spread out. Imagine a handful of plastic cornflakes sprinkled over a football field. Now imagine 9 million football fields in the Pacific Ocean.
12 years ago, Captain Charles Moore accidentally "discovered" the plastic debris debacle in the North Pacific while sailing an infrequently traveled route from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Stunned by the endless river of plastic junk he found -– toothbrushes, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments –- Moore decided to return with research tools and scientific sampling methods, to better understand what he saw.
In 1999, Moore et al. published the groundbreaking study, 4,200 miles across the Pacific, collecting surface samples the entire way.
What we found this year: the problem has gotten much, much worse. Though our samples are still being processed, Captain Moore guesstimates a fivefold increase in 10 years, bumping plastic to plankton ratios up to 30:1.
And still, we tear through plastic bags and bottles like they're going out of style...
Actually, we'd love to see disposable plastics go out of style. So to bring public attention to the junk in our ocean, we're sailing from Long Beach to Hawaii -- on Junk.

For the last few months, Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Joel Paschal and myself have been creating Junk -– a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles, an old Cessna 310 airplane, and other assorted junk, to sail from Long Beach to Hawaii.
Marcus and Joel will set sail on June 1 from the Long Beach Aquarium, carrying hundreds of individual messages about plastic debris, to be delivered to D.C. legislators next winter. I'll be charting their daily progress from land, keeping up the blog, and praying for gentle, steady winds.
Come on board! To support our mission, write your message in a bottle here. And to see history in the making -- the first ever plastic bottle boat cross the Pacific -- come on down for the June 1 launch party, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Long Beach Aquarium.
Follow the journey at the JUNK blog. And for information, e-mail me at annacummins@gmail.com.
Top photo by Joel Paschal; bottom photo by Peter Bennett
Friday, May 30, 2008
EcoDaredevils: JUNK launch on June 1st!
JUNK Launches on June 1st!
Check it out HERE and be there if you can to send them off on their trip from CA to Hawaii aboard a plastic bottle raft.
Check it out HERE and be there if you can to send them off on their trip from CA to Hawaii aboard a plastic bottle raft.
Friday, May 16, 2008
EcoDaredevil: Laser Van Thillo
Here is a true eco daredevil action-the burying of the earth treasure vase in the ocean!
Mark Van Thillo (aka Laser) and other members of PCRF "buried" a consecrated tibetan earth treasure vase in the Southern Pacific Ocean in December.
The intention of the vase, which is filled with prayers and offerings, is to bring protection and healing to wherever it is placed. The dive off Egum Atoll in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, took the vase 93 feet down to a pristine shelf.
Watch the video HERE
Mark Van Thillo (aka Laser) and other members of PCRF "buried" a consecrated tibetan earth treasure vase in the Southern Pacific Ocean in December.
The intention of the vase, which is filled with prayers and offerings, is to bring protection and healing to wherever it is placed. The dive off Egum Atoll in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, took the vase 93 feet down to a pristine shelf.
Watch the video HERE
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