Nissan Offers Roadside Assistance to LEAF Owners in Japan by Michael Graham Richard via Treehugger.
Archive for September, 2010
TROY, N.Y. – September 28, 2010 Green clothing designer ‘E ko logic will showcase their recycled clothing line at multiple fashion events throughout the fall season. Events in which ‘Eko logic will participate include Crafts On Columbus Avenue- New York City: Oct. 16-17, Green Festival- Washington D.C.: Oct. 23-24, and American Craft Show- New York City: Nov. 19-21. They will be wrapping up their season with “Jingle”, the designer holiday pop-up store in Chelsea Market, New York City: Dec. 9-23.
‘E ko logic was founded by designer/fiber artist, Kathleen Tesnakis in 1996. The eco-friendly apparel is designed for and worn by people of all walks of life. ‘E ko logic recycles post-consumer cashmere clothing into artfully reassembled one-of-a-kind cashmere accessories and sweaters for men and women. Designs also include fashion forward cashmere dresses and skirts in addition to a full line of recycled cotton.
Since its founding, ‘e ko logic has transformed seven tons of post-consumer materials to create more than 30,000 individually designed pieces. Every item made by ‘e ko logic is unique because of the intentional way Tesnakis gathers and assembles the required materials. After hunting down discarded cashmere sweaters and other treasures, she dismantles each article of clothing while taking the time to recognize its individual character. Finally, she transforms the material by joining it with other pieces to give an old garment a new life and purpose.
“There is a little magic and a lot of love in each piece we construct,” Tesnakis said. “We can’t request our palette. We use what is available in the waste stream. Instead of making designs from virgin materials we choose to recycle post-consumer garments which allow us to save 97 percent of the energy and chemicals generally required to manufacture from virgin materials” she adds.
‘E ko logic clothing is sold online and is available at stores on three continents, from New York to Japan. In 2002, ‘e ko logic relocated from Portland, Ore. to upstate New York. The family-run company now operates out of a century-old brick building that was originally used to recycle left-over textile scraps from the Troy shirt collar and cuff industry. ”Living a sustainable lifestyle is something you grow into,” Tesnakis said. “As a designer, I think of my clothing as green textile art. But as a green activist, I hope my clothing also gets people thinking about sustainability, recycling, where their clothing comes from and how it was made.”
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For more information on ‘E ko logic, visit their website or find them on Facebook.
If you are interested in high resolution publicity images visit this site.
Join One Nation Working Together in Washington DC by Sarah Hodgdon via Treehugger
Washington, D.C. – September 23, 2010 The American Lung Association and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) intervened on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to defend important air quality standards that will limit sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants, factories, and other sources. Tuesday’s court filing by Earthjustice seeks to oppose industry suits challenging the public health standards.
The EPA strengthened the national ambient air quality standards for sulfur dioxide air pollution in June 2010, the first time EPA had strengthened the standard since 1971. In August, several industry groups and two states filed court challenges to the new standards. EPA’s revised standards for sulfur dioxide will limit the dangerous, short-term exposures to sulfur dioxide. The stronger standards will help prevent thousands of asthma attacks and hundreds of emergency room visits. Since sulfur dioxide emissions transform into fine particles in the air, this standard will significantly reduce extremely harmful particulate matter pollution, saving thousands of lives.
“Breathing in sulfur dioxide can have dire consequences on human health,” said Janice E. Nolen of the American Lung Association. “These bursts of sulfur dioxide pose a special problem for residents who live next door to power plants, but they also spread far beyond them. EPA was right to adopt stronger standards that will save lives, and keep many people out of the hospital.”
Sulfur dioxide pollution causes a variety of adverse health impacts including breathing difficulties, aggravation of asthma, and increased hospital and emergency room visits for respiratory illnesses. This stronger standard will improve the health of millions of people at risk from these pollutants, especially seniors, children and people with chronic lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.
“EPA’s clean air standard will help ensure millions of Americans have healthier and longer lives,” said Vickie Patton, General Counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund. “This science-based clean air standard is critical to protect against the peak, short-term pollution exposures that are especially dangerous to children, senior citizens, and people with asthma.”
The Lung Association, EDF, and Earthjustice won a successful suit in 1998 that directed EPA to examine if the sulfur dioxide standards then in place served to protect people against high bursts of sulfur dioxide pollution. This new standard will provide more protection from those intense, high pollution levels.
“The law requires clean air standards to be strong enough to protect health.” said Earthjustice attorney David Baron. “We want to make sure that kids and senior citizens can go outside without getting sick just from breathing.”
For more information about EPA’s health based national ambient air quality standard for sulfur dioxide, please see their website.
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About Earthjustice
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. Find out more about Earthjustice on their website or connect with them via Twitter @EarthJustice and Facebook.
September 24, 2010 — At the UN Climate Talks in Bonn, Germany this summer, the international campaign 350.org announced plans for a Global Work Party scheduled for October 10th, 2010. All over the world, thousands of communities will be putting up solar panels, insulating homes, organizing bicycle parades and getting to work on the many solutions to the climate crisis.
“Our message is: if we can get to work, so can our lawmakers,” said 350.org founder and environmental author, Bill McKibben. “If we can climb up on the roof of a school and hammer in a solar panel, our negotiators can climb up to the podium here at the UN Climate Talks and commit to a real deal.”
In 2009, 350.org organized an International Day of Action with over 5,200 events in more than 180 countries to support the goal of reducing C02 from its current level of 390 parts per million to below 350 ppm, the safe upper limit according to the latest science. CNN called the events, “the most widespread day of political action in history.” In Copenhagen, 112 countries endorsed the 350 ppm C02 target and continue to support it at the talks in Bonn.
“Two years ago, nobody had ever heard of 350. By coming together around the world, everyday citizens made it the most important number on the planet,” said McKibben. “Now, we’re looking to get an even simpler message across to our politicians: get to work.”
Along with the Global Work Party, 350.org is coordinating the Great Power Race, a clean energy competition between students in China, India, and the United States. “Youth across India are already working on solutions to the climate crisis. The Great Power Race will be an opportunity for us to highlight and build on their efforts,” says Roselin Dey with 350.org India.
Over 1,000 events are already registered on the 350.org website for the 10/10/10 Global Work Party. “Our goal is to provide a platform for the millions of voices of everyday citizens who are left out of the international climate negotiations,” said Jamie Henn, 350.org Communications Director. “The 10/10/10 Global Work Party will provide compelling stories of people in nearly every country who are getting to work on climate solutions and asking their leaders to do the same.”
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Hi-res photographs, local spokespeople, and fact-sheets on climate science and the latest political negotiations can be found at: 350.org/media or by contacting 350.org Communications Director Jamie Henn (jamie@350.org).
Whether to Go the Distance With a Brand News Nissan Leaf by Pamela Coyle via SunPluggers
Free admission to the Green Festival on October 23 and 24 via Examiner.com by Jamie Hardin.
Baltimore — September 20, 2010 The Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice of Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Northern VA. represent a partnership of congregations, organizations and individuals deeply committed to the religious principles of human dignity, justice and compassion for all people. They help Unitarian Universalist activists carryout their social and economic justice agendas, and hold an annual Awards Gala to celebrate social justice visionaries.
The Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice will present an interfaith panel at Washington D.C. Green Festival, October 23-24, with members representing Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. The panel will be moderated by a Unitarian Universalist minister and will address why and how these faith communities are responding to the current worldwide environmental crisis, especially with regard to environmental justice issues.
Panel participants include:
Representing the Jewish perspective, Joelle Novey, Executive Director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light;
Representing the Christian perspective, The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton who is the first African American Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland and was formerly the Canon Pastor of Washington National Cathedral. He wants to be known as “The Green Bishop,” and has been a leader in addressing climate change as a religious issue;
And representing the Muslim perspective, Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, who serves as the director of Community Outreach for the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Northern Virginia. He was the first Muslim Chaplain installed at Howard University and has been cited by Greater Washington Interfaith power and Light for his leadership on green issues within the Muslim community.
The moderator will be Unitarian Universalist minister and administrator of the regional group Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, Rev. Cynthia Snavely.
Also, the Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice exhibit in Green Festival’s marketplace will undergo renovation to become interactive in design, thanks to visual artist Caryl Henry Alexander from Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Camp Springs, MD.
Arlington — September 20, 2010 In its continuous commitment to community and sustainability, Arbour Realty, the DC area’s first green real estate firm, has created a program encouraging participation with local festivals and events to motivate people to recycle.
For the upcoming Clarendon Day Festival in Arlington’s Clarendon District, (Saturday, September 25) Arbour Realty is hosting “Winos Unite to Save the Planet” which encourages all festival participants to drop off any stockpiled wine and champagne corks to their booth. The corks will then be sent off to be recycled into a new sustainable product that can be utilized for several purposes, from flooring to wall coverings. Cork, which is derived from the cork oak bark, is a naturally renewable resource; it can actually be used several times over, breathing new life into an material that is otherwise often discarded.
Arbour Realty’s highly educated staff of EcoBrokers understands the need for renewable and sustainable resources for the home and beyond. A festival such as Clarendon Day, where area residents, retailers and restaurants come together to celebrate the district is an important opportunity to involve community in a recycling program and also present such a program in a fun and creative way.
Better Homes and Gardens recognized Arbour Realty as the BetaBrokerage to Watch for the Mid Atlantic Region. The tools and services that Arbour Realty makes available to their clients and community includes their highly relevant blog and team of educated EcoBrokers. Some of the other pioneering systems that Arbour Realty has in place offers their clients genuinely more simplified process such as the use of e-signatures, highly user friendly search tools and impeccably detailed community information. These systems also enable Arbour Realty to remain an environmentally friendly real estate office by off-setting effects of driving, nearly eliminating paper usage in the office and conserving time.
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About Arbour Realty
Arbour Realty is a local, full-service brokerage of eco-minded professionals who have gone above and beyond becoming Realtors, but have actually become EcoBrokers. Founded in 2008 by Adam and Sonia Gallegos, Arbour Realty seeks not only to provide the best in service for buying and selling homes, but also to serve as a valuable community information resource. They keep clients and neighbors up to date through various social media including Facebook, Twitter, and a blog.