Archive for April, 2011

Will a Real Earth Day Movement Please Stand Up?

“Okay, so it’s Earth Day — the day where environmentalism is celebrated with TV specials, special product offers, and well-intentioned community greening efforts. These are all nice things (but if I have to delete one more ‘Great story idea for Earth Day’ pitches for eco-friendly beauty products, so help me …). Sort of. I mean, I’m glad that a few companies are taking the effort to market their products to an audience that cares about the planet — it’s better that there’s been a mild consumer shift towards organic, fair trade, and ethical products, and that they can be promoted with a topical tie-in one day a year. But 98% of this junk obscures what the original Earth Day was all about: Taking to the streets with fellow citizens and demanding real reform and environmental protections.”

Will a Real Earth Day Movement Please Stand Up? via Brian Merchant – Treehugger

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Our Interview With Dr. Devra Davis

“Over her distinguished career as a scientist, professor, and author, Dr. Devra Davis has racked up her share of laurels. With a Ph.D. in science studies and a post-doctoral Master’s of Public Health in epidemiology, Dr. Davis has worked for the National Academy of Sciences, and as a senior advisor in the US Department of Health and Human Services. She was appointed by former President Bill Clinton to his Chemical Safety and Hazard Mitigation Board. And she served as a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2007 along with former Vice-President Al Gore. She was the founding director of what is reputed to be the world’s first Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh, and she currently lectures at Harvard University and Georgetown University.

Her book, When Smoke Ran Like Water (Basic Books, 2002), was a finalist for the National Book Award, and her book The Secret History of the War on Cancer (Basic Books, 2009) is being used at major public health universities, including Harvard, Emory, and Tulane.

But it’s her 2010 release, Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family (Dutton, 2010), that may put her in the history books as the 21st century’s Rachel Carson. In it, Davis examines the controversy surrounding cell phone use and its possible link to brain cancer and other human health impacts.

Like many of us, Davis was initially skeptical about the ties between cell phone use and cancer. But after spending the past seven years poring over the research, she’s become one of the most vocal and credible voices warning about the dangers of cell phone radiation. Green America editor Tracy Fernandez Rysavy talked to Dr. Davis about why she’s concerned about widespread cell phone use, and why it’s so vital to protect our children from cell phone radiation, even in the face of some uncertainty of harm.”

Our Interview With Dr. Devra Davis via Green America

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Solar Goose partners with Handi-Crafters organization to increase production, cut packaging costs and support local employment

Tom Chorman (back left) with his wife Eileen (back center) and daughter Megan (back right) of Solar LED have embraced their partnership with Handi-Crafters, which includes promotion on their product packaging.

THORNDALE, PA – April 21, 2011 Solar LED Innovations, LLC uses the energy of the sun to produce highly efficient, reliable and utility-conscious flashlights and other lighting accessories.

This past year Handi-Crafters has partnered with Solar LED to help cut packaging costs and ramp up mass production of their products as the business has grown. “I would not have been able to grow rapidly without the support of Handi-Crafters,” remarks Tom Chorman, CEO of Solar LED.

“As an entrepreneur, you offer an incredible advantage to start up companies. In this new economy, having full access to a world class manufacturing and packaging facility puts your customers on equal footing with much larger companies. As a small business I can enter the marketplace without having to hire, train, and supervise a workforce.”

With 300 pairs of hands to package products. Handi-Crafters has produced 9 different products for Solar LED, including flashlights, book lights, laptop lights and cap clip lights.

“Every new manufacturing business should consider the value available via utilizing Handi-Crafters to jump start the business. ”

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About Solar Goose
Solar Goose breaks the boundaries of renewable energy innovation, providing an array of portable, solar powered rechargeable LED lights, batteries and even I-Phone and I-Pad chargers! www.solargoose.com

About Handi-Crafters
Handi-Crafters started as a very small, make-shift operation. A group of parents felt their adult disabled children should have something meaningful to do during the day. With only six “clients” and a church basement, Handi-Crafters was in business.

Their first contract was rolling newspapers used as stuffing for a
furniture company. Today we serve over 400 individuals with an expanded array of employment services. We have two buildings on our campus with
fourteen shops running from 8am to 3pm, five days a week. Our 40-
plus customer list includes Fortune 500 companies and numerous entrepreneurs. We are no longer simply a sheltered workshop striving to provide meaningful activities to a handful of adults with disabilities; we are part of several vital supply chains for large companies and we are the affordable solution for several start-up enterprises. We are an offsite temporary labor force ready at a moments notice, allowing companies to respond quickly as their business ebbs and flows. Most importantly, we are a real place of work where our workers come each day ready to “get the job done.” They are proud of their paychecks. For many, they have come to depend on the money they earn to help them live more independently. www.handi-crafters.org

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USDA moves to let Monsanto perform its own environmental impact studies on GMOs

“Last August, Federal Judge Jeffrey White issued a stinging rebuke to the USDA for its process on approving new genetically modified seeds. He ruled that the agency’s practice of “deregulating” novel seed varieties without first performing an environmental impact study violated the National Environmental Policy Act.

How has the Obama USDA responded to Judge White’s rebuke? By repeatedly defying it, most recently in February, when the agency moved to allow farmers to plant the engineered seeds even though the impact study has yet to be completed. Its rationale for violating the court order will raise an eyebrow of anyone who read Gary Taubes’ recent New York Times Magazine piece teasing out the health hazards of the American sweet tooth: the USDA feared that the GMO sugar beet ban would cause sweetener prices to rise. Thus the USDA places the food industry’s right to cheap sweetener for its junk food over the dictates of a federal court.

In early April, the USDA made what I’m reading as a second response to Judge White, this one even more craven. To satisfy the legal system’s pesky demand for environmental impact studies of novel GMO crops, the USDA has settled upon a brilliant solution: let the GMO industry conduct its own environmental impact studies, or pay other researchers to. The USDA announced the program in the Federal Register for April 7, 2011 [PDF].”

USDA moves to let Monsanto perform its own environmental impact studies on GMOs via Tom Philpott – Grist

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Some Truth about the Cosmetics Industry. ~ Joshua Scott Onysko

What are our skin cream companies hiding from us?

“I get asked about this a lot [Josh is CEO, founder of Pangea Organics. ~ed.] so I’m going to try and break it all down in this article.

The cosmetics industry is completely unregulated, except if they are making medical claims such as “acne treatment” or “SPF” etc., etc. These products are not regulated for safety, just for effectiveness of the claim, and even that is suspect.

There are over 100,000 chemicals being used in the cosmetic and cleaning industry in the U.S. Less than 10% of them have ever been tested for human safety, and next to none have been tested for safety when combined with other components, which is exactly what a cosmetic product is—a cocktail of ingredients.”

Read More: Some Truth about the Cosmetics Industry. ~ Joshua Scott Onysko via The Elephant Journal

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Democracy Now! Interviews Mark Hertsgaard of The Nation on His Book "Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth" 1 of 2

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Corporate Innovator Ford Showcases Progressive Eco-Efforts at San Francisco Green Festival

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National Green Pages™ Fellowship

Dates: Summer 2011; flexible start dates
Hours: part-time/flexible, 32 hrs/week
Compensation: Stipend
Supervisor: Sr. Manager Marketing and Membership
Deadline: Open until filled

Overview: If you have a sharp eye for detail, have copy-editing experience, are interested in progressive publishing and editing, and want to learn about how “green businesses” are working to protect people and the planet, there’s an opportunity for you at Green America.

Green America is a national nonprofit organization teaching consumers and businesses how to create positive social and environmental change through economic and financial strategies. Our target program areas are developing “green” and socially responsible small businesses, building healthy local economies, and promoting corporate responsibility.

Green America’s Green Business Network™ (GBN) is the business membership program of Green America. GBN’s mission is to help socially responsible enterprises emerge and succeed. We do this through public education and marketing assistance, and by providing members with cost-saving benefits and services. Our flagship production, the National Green Pages™ directory, links these businesses with conscientious consumers.

Description: Approved members of GBN receive free listings in the printed and online versions of the National Green Pages™. The Fellow will enter listing submitted by members changes (via mail, fax or email). This position will need to communicate (via phone and email) with members to resolve any discrepancies.

The Fellow also participates on Green America’s Screening Team, which researches and reviews the social and environmental profiles of green businesses. This provides exposure to the challenges of running a socially responsible company and how third parties rate business sustainability practices.

Specific duties include:

1.   Set milestones and goals with supervisor and monitor progress to ensure goals will be met. Goals include: weekly goals for data entry, final deadlines for completion of data entry, editing, accuracy of information in publications, etc.

2.   Handle special case processing, tracking and correspondence with members, verifying listing information with members when needed.

3.   Communicate with business members about how best to edit their listing for publication.

4.   Work closely with the GBN and publications teams to review progress of listings status.

5.   Assist in proofing tasks for the NGP as needed.

5.   Participate in Screening Team meetings where companies are evaluated for Approved membership in the Green America Business Network (if time permits).

Qualifications:

  • Eagle-eyed copy editing skills — journalism/English/marketing/communications majors encouraged.
  • Interest in learning about socially responsible business practices.
  • General familiarity with a broad range of social justice and environmental issues, especially as related to consumer issues.
  • Excellent conversational and phone skills.
  • Familiarity with PC office applications; must be a fast typist and have experience working with databases.
  • Superb organizational and self-motivation capabilities.
  • Leadership and initiative. The intern will be expected to arrange meetings and flag concerns or problems with business listings.
  • Preference: prior print publications experience

Send résumé and cover letter (include preferred start and end dates) to: Desireé Reese, dreese@greenamerica.org; fax: 202-822-8471; or mail: 1612 K St. NW, Ste. 600, Washington, DC 20006.

Organization: Green America’s Green Business Network

No calls please.

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Earth Day in San Francisco Events and Activities in San Francisco for Earth Day 2011

“Although San Francisco is green on a daily basis–we have the highest recycling and composting rate of U.S. cities–Earth Day is still a special occasion for us to celebrate nature and the environment. The annual, internationally recognized Earth Day is April 22, but the weekends before and after in San Francisco are busy with Earth-Day-inspired festivities as well. In this guide, find Earth Day activities in San Francisco and the Bay Area, listed in chronological order.”

Earth Day in San Francisco – Events and Activities in San Francisco for Earth Day 2011 via Barbara Koh – About.com

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El Centro de Raza – Comcast Dares Day April 30th

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