Recycled Canvas Bags and Hats by PAZ Apparel | Fashion Peace.

Environmental Countdown

I receive a monthly newsletter from 'Environmental Countdown' and wanted to share their latest launch venture with everyone.

"We are pleased to announce the pre-launch of Environmental Countdown and we need your help. Environmental Countdown is a non-profit video community that allows environmental organizations to create profiles and upload and highlight their videos.

Our state-of-the-art easy to use technology allows organizations (and individuals) to post videos to the Environmental Countdown website, gives you the tools to create a profile page with information about your group, ways people can donate and volunteer and lets you EASILY add your video to your own website with a simple code (known as a widget). Joining and posting videos is absolutely free and there is no outside advertising associated with our site."

REMINDER: Earth Hour March 29th 8:00pm 2008!

Set a reminder!!! Turn off the lights for just one hour on March 29th 8:00pm your local time regardless of where you are in the world! Earth Hour United States

Check it out.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv will unite and switch off for Earth Hour.

World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour is catching on across America following the tremendous success of last year's event in Sydney, Australia.

This global phenomenon will spread across six continents in 2008, including hundreds of communities like yours in the United States. Chicago will serve as the U.S. flagship city for Earth Hour in 2008, with Atlanta, Phoenix and San Francisco joining as leading partner cities. B

ut everyone throughout the US and around the world is invited and encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour on March 29 at 8 p.m. local time--whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town. What will you do when the lights are off?

Why not change out those old energy-wasting light bulbs to new, inexpensive and efficient compact fluorescents. Earth Hour is also a great time to consider what you and your family can do in the days and months to reduce emissions and live more sustainably. We have lots of great ideas to get you started. To alter the course of climate change we must act now.

The U.S. is the world's leading emitter of carbon dioxide—over 20 tons per person every year. One person committed to reducing energy consumption can make a difference, and millions of us working together can change the world.

A Recycled Plastic Electric Bus Coming Soon To A Neighborhood Near You

From the Composites Technology Website, "Mobile Energy Solutions LLC (MES, Golden, Colo.) will soon premiere a “green” transit bus, featuring a fuel cell/hybrid electric motor optimized for fuel efficiency with an all-composite body made from recycled plastics.

The low-floor, 37-passenger vehicle is being developed under two Research and Development contracts from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Admin.’s (FTA) National Fuel Cell Bus Program.

The 35-ft/10.7m long bus bodies will be infusion molded plastic. The design will be fabricated in two sections: an upper shell (the roof from the window line up) and a lower shell comprising four separately molded sections that will be bonded together and then joined to the upper shell.

The body’s reduced weight will make the bus more efficient than a standard bus retrofitted with hybrid propulsion."

Now that's what I call taking recycled materials to new heights!! 

NRDC Lauds Passage of New York City Council Legislation Requiring Groceries, Retailers to Provide Plastic Bag Recycling for Consumers

NRDC PRESS RELEASE:

NEW YORK (January 9, 2008) – The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) today welcomed New York City Council passage of new legislation that would encourage recycling of single-use plastic bags at large supermarkets and other retail outlets throughout the city.

“The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year, clogging our cabinets, kitchen drawers and landfills. They’re hanging from trees, and littering our beaches,” said NRDC Urban Program co-director, Eric A. Goldstein. “The bill ensures that retailers will give customers a better choice than simply throwing away a product made from oil that will sit in a landfill for up to a thousand years.”

Every year, Americans use and dispose of 100 billion plastic shopping bags, according to the Wall Street Journal, and an estimated 12 million of barrels of oil are needed to manufacture that many bags. Plastic bags and other plastic film, which is also covered by the bill, represents 4 to 5 percent of the city’s residential waste load, the New York City Sanitation Department has found. No more than 5 percent of plastic grocery bags were recycled across the country in 2005, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“The proposed legislation will discourage the one-time use and throw-away of plastic bags, reduce energy consumption and global warming gases, and lead at least some New Yorkers to think about the cost to taxpayers and the city’s environment from wasteful packaging practices.”

The Story of Stuff

Here's a great piece sent to me by a friend who cares about our planet as much as I do. "The Story of Stuff"

Annie Leonard takes us on "a 20 minute fact filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns and exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.

TED Ideas worth spreading

When you have some spare time and are looking to be inspired I encourage you to view a lecture or two on any number of subjects that consider ways in which we can positively impact our world. A good place to start is a talk by Jane Goodall on what separates us from apes. (Not all that much it turns out.)

And in the interest of spreading some 'good' here's an excerpt from the TED website:

"The goal of the TED foundation is to foster the spread of great ideas.

It aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future.

Core to this goal is a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea.

Consider:

• An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
• An idea weighs nothing.
• It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
• And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
• It can reshape that mind's view of the world.
• It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind's owner.
• It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others.

Coconut Palm Wood The Next 'Bamboo'?

If you are thinking of remodeling your home give some thought to Palmwood. I recently came across a store that specializes in selling only 'green' products for the home. Zero VOC paints (Volatile Organic Compounds), natural clay wall treatments, bamboo and yes even palmwood.

Palms were planted in the tropics during the early part of the 20th Century by the millions to supply the coconut oil market. Since palm trees only bear fruit for about 70 years they must be felled to make way for new crops. So, what to do with the millions of trees felled each year?

It turns out palmwood is terrific for indoor and outdoor projects as it is resistant to termites, mold and wood rot making it a great choice in both wet and dry climates as well.

And because palms don't grow in rings like other trees you get a beautiful linear grain that is unlike any you have seen before. Imagine palmwood floors instead of laminate which is just awful for the environment. Just gorgeous! 

Ozone Layer En Route to Recovery

Here's some good news about the Ozone layer I came across on the 'Down to Earth' blog by Dan Kulpinski.

World Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Ozone Treaty -- It's an environmental and public health victory in the making:  The stratosphere's ozone layer, which protects us from much of the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation, is on the road to recovery after a global phase out of ozone-depleting chemicals.

Wells Fargo ATM's Dumping the Envelope

Here's some optimistic news out of California! Thanks to 'The Cindy's" at Organic Picks for sharing!