Posts Tagged Green America

Online Retailers Promote Cyber Monday

“Cyber Monday. Green Tuesday. Black Friday. Magenta Saturday.

Chances are you won’t find any of these holidays on your calendar. Yet retailers are coming up with names for just about every day of the week during the holiday shopping season.

“…………Nonprofit Green America is launching “Green Tuesday” this week to encourage people to buy gifts with the environment and local communities in mind. The group is planning to push the event every Tuesday through December.”

Green America, which says it aims to support society and the environment through economic programs, plans to showcase deals on its website, including jewelry made from recycled nuclear bomb equipment from online retailer Fromwartopeace.com and a self-watering system for plants by Dri Water.

“Mass culture encourages people to run out of their house, now at midnight, and go shopping,” says Todd Larsen, director of corporate responsibility for Green America, which vetted the businesses it’s highlighting on its website to ensure they meet certain environmental and ethical standards. “Why not wait another day or more and buy something that helps others?”‘

Online Retailers Promote Cyber Monday via Associated Press – NPR

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GREEN FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY IN SAN FRANCISCO

CONTACT:
SAEGERMEDIAGROUP, Inc.
Katy Saeger
katy@saegermediagroup.com
310.935.3883

Green Festival celebrates 10 years in San Francisco November 12-13, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO - The nation’s premier green living event returns to San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center November 12-13, 2011. This year, Green Festival celebrates a ten-year milestone with over one million attendees in eight cities.

This unique experience celebrates positive solutions working in our communities.  It’s where people come to meet renowned authors, actors, visionaries and community leaders; shop with hundreds of green businesses; participate in DIY workshops; enjoy live music and local vegan and vegetarian cuisine; and join friends at the organic beer and wine garden.

San Francisco leaders are supporting the 10th anniversary.  According to Mayor Edwin M. Lee,   “I applaud Green Festival on its tenth anniversary of bringing together key environmental thought leaders and the best in green economy innovations.” Supervisor John Avalos of the Board of Supervisors commented, “We welcome Green Festival back to San Francisco, it’s a great event to bring your families.”

Ten stages and pavilions will host more than 125 inspirational and educational speakers, including Amy Goodman, Rev Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, John Perkins, Frances Moore Lappe, Laura Flanders, Mark Hertsgaard, Anuradha Mittal, Q’orianka Kilcher, John Robbins, Jeffrey Smith, and a special tribute to Wangari Maathai.

With the holiday season just around the corner, Green Festival is the perfect location to support local businesses all in one location.  The Green Marketplace profiles hundreds of green and socially responsible businesses and organizations. Attendees browse everything from green, non-toxic home furnishings to organic clothing to Fair Trade gifts, children’s toys and much more.

“By bringing together all the parts of the next economy—the green economy—the Green Festivals follow the core principle of Mother Nature: unity of diversity,” says Green Festival co-founder Kevin Danaher. “Instead of waiting for elites to reform the economy from the top down, we are constructing a new economic model from the grassroots up.”

“Whether you go to shop, learn, or experience art and music, Green Festival has it all, it’s a great place to celebrate what’s working in our communities and find the sustainable solutions that fit your lifestyle,” says Denise Hamler, Green Festival Director.

Green Festival offers something for the entire family. Peruse the latest in earth-friendly fashions. View socially and environmentally impactful film shorts at the Sierra Club Green Cinema. Learn by doing at hands-on DIY workshops and gain practical green tips you can apply to your everyday life. Empower your inner entrepreneur with Green Business Seminars and find your next green career at the Green Career Resource Center.

With special performances by Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, Evelie Delino Sales Posch with the Spiral Dance Chorus and Band, Banana Slug String Band, Valerie Orth, David Young and DJ Sister Yasmin.

Check out the latest in all-electric and hybrid transportation at the Ford Pavilion and enjoy a test drive right at the Green Festival.  Join Ford in celebrating social and environmental innovation in the community and vote for the finalists who will win a $5,000 Ford Community Green Grant.

A joint project of Green America and Global Exchange, Green Festival is a non-profit 501c3 event to explore and build sustainable solutions for successful communities and a healthier environment.

Engage with Green Festivals online at www.GreenFestivals.org.

Connect with Green Festival on Facebook and Twitter @GreenFestival.

Sign up for the Green Festival Newsletter at www.greenfestivals.org/newsletter for program updates and giveaway opportunities.

Become a Green Festival volunteer and get free admission volunteer@greenfestivals.org.

Green Festival Partners make the event possible: Clif Bar, Ford Motor, Renewal by Anderson, Ben and Jerry’s, New York Times, O Organics/Bright Green, New Resource Bank, Earth Balance,  BRITA, Calvert, Consumer Reports, DotGreen, Essentia, Four Green Steps, Green Bash, Manitoba Harvest, Numi Tea, Zu-Kay, Book Publishing Company, and Democracy Now.

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About Green America

Green America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today’s social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility.  www.greenamericatoday.org

About Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change. www.globalexchange.org

About Seven-Star, Inc.

Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally responsible and socially respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. Events include the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, 2008 Democratic National Convention events, and Green Festivals. Seven-Star is the first event company to win the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 92%.www.sevenstarevents.com

San Francisco 2011 Green Festival Program Highlights:

  • Eco-Fashion Showcase
  • Sustainable Home and Garden Pavilion
  • Do-It-Yourself Workshops
  • Green Kids’ Zone
  • Green Business Pavilion
  • Green Jobs and Careers
  • Green Investing
  • Green Building Pavilion
  • Renewable Energy
  • Beer and Wine Pavilion
  • Organic Local Food
  • Ford Pavilion
  • Fair Trade Pavilion
  • Community Action Pavilion
  • Acoustic Music Café
  • Sierra Club Green Cinema
  • Youth Programs
  • Zero-waste Tour

San Francisco Green Festival

November 12-13

Saturday, 10 am – 7 pm

Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm

Concourse Exhibition Center

8th Street at Brannan, San Francisco

Pricing:

$10 all access weekendpass (online) with two gifts.

$10 day at the door

$15 weekend at the door

Green Festival Fan Package  – weekend pass for 2 — $48 (online) with gifts or $55 (at door)

Free Admission:
Youth under 18, seniors, union members, cyclists (with use of bike valet), volunteers and Green America and Global Exchange members.

Event contact: June Brashares

Event phone contact: 415-425-3733

Event email contact: june@greenfestivals.org

Second Event Contact: Bryan Ting

Second Event phone contact: 925-788-7797

Second Event email contact: bryan.ting@greenfestivals.org

Event category: green, family, festival, education, expo

Ongoing Event (y or n)  Y – annual event

Short Event Description:

Green Festival, the nation’s largest and most trusted green living event returns to San Francisco for its 10th year on November 12-13, 2011. This unique experience celebrates positive solutions working in our communities. Festivities include presentations by more than 125 renowned authors and inspiring visionaries, DIY workshops, cutting-edge films, enriching kid’s and youth activities, organic beer and wine, delicious organic vegan and vegetarian cuisine, music and art and an amazing marketplace of hundreds of green local and national businesses and organizations.

Shorter Event Description:

Green Festival, the nation’s largest, most trusted green living event returns to San Francisco for its 10th year on November 12-13, 2011.  Meet and hear renowned authors and  inspiring visionaries. Participate in DIY workshops. Enjoy films, fun kid’s activities, organic vegan & vegetarian cuisine, local beer & wine, music & art and a diverse marketplace of green businesses & organizations.

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Green America's 2011 People's Choice Award – Vote today for Green Business of the Year

“Below are the top ten most popular green business nominations. See what other Green Americans are saying about the businesses, check out their Web sites, and vote for your favorite before October 6.

Then, join us at the Green Festival in San Francisco in November to find out who won this year’s award, orsign up for our e-mail newsletter to receive the announcement of the winner.

MEET THE TOP 10 NOMINEES
(Listed in alphabetical order.)

1. Bella Luna Toys
Rockland, ME | www.bellalunatoys.com
“They have a wonderful selection of homemade toys made from natural, organic materials. They reuse and recycle and use clean and renewable energy sources. I LOVE Bella Luna Toys!”
—Patricia K., Chesterton, IN

2. Diva Cup
Kitchener, ON | www.divacup.com
“The Diva Cup is a wonderful solution for all women, with the possibility to eliminate huge amounts of landfill waste while promoting sustainability and health.”
—Maya C., Gaylordsville, CT

3. Divine Chocolate
Washington, DC | www.divinechocolateusa.com
“Sales of their chocolate benefit African cocoa grower cooperatives and USA nonprofit fundraising activities. They’ve made a lot of people aware of what Fair Trade is all about.”
—Dawn B., Cornville, AZ

4. Earth Kind
Bismarck, ND | www.earth-kind.com
“They offer a product that keeps mice out of vehicles, houses, campers, or just about anywhere you don’t want them without being harmful to the mouse, or any other pets or animals.”
Lynn W., Phillipsburg, KS

5. Faerie’s Dance
Harbor City, CA | www.faeriesdance.com

“This one-woman company offers affordable, beautiful, sustainable organic clothing, all beneficial for the consumer and environment (with the widest range of eco-intimates I’ve ever seen!)”
Trisha F., Raleigh, NC

6. Hazelnut Kids
Traverse City, MI | www.hazelnutkids.com
“This is by far my favorite green toy store: incredible customer service and a great selection. Easy- to-navigate site, divided for browsing by age, brand, category. Eco-friendly and a tree planted for every toy sold. ”
Mare D., Sag Harbor, NY

7. Purple Dragon Food Co-op
Glen Ridge, NJ | www.purpledragon.com
“Purple Dragon supports local farmers, while providing high quality organic produce. The co-op also saves energy by coordinating delivery for hundreds of customers who would otherwise drive long distances.”
Paula R., Berkeley Heights, NJ

8. Reach and Teach
San Mateo, CA | www.reachandteach.com
“They support/find/distribute/popularize/invent fun stuff that teaches kids about environmental and social responsibility while expanding their brains generally, and do everything in as sustainable a way as possible.”
Julia B., San Francisco, CA

9. Seven Hopes United
San Francisco, CA | www.sevenhopesunited.com
“Seven Hopes United carries goods that give back: sustainable, eco-gifts handmade with love by artisans around the globe. Products are handmade, all-natural materials that are biodegradable, nontoxic, organic, recycled, recyclable, or repurposed.”
Hunter R., San Diego, CA

10. Sustainable NYC
New York, NY | 
www.sustainable-nyc.com
“Wonderful supporter of my school and environmental clubs, as well as a fully green business selling sustainable and locally made products. It is more than a store, it is more like a community center..”
Lynn T., New York, NY

Vote for your favorite Green Business to win the 2011 Green America People’s Choice Award – via Green America

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Green Festival Comes to Los Angeles

“For the past ten years, the Green Festival has been an annual or bi-annual event in San Francisco.  The Green Festival has also taken place elsewhere across the country, with Chicago, Seattle, and Washington D.C. to name a few locations.  Now, for the first time in its decade of existence, the Green Festival is coming to Los Angeles.

The Green Festival will be in Los Angeles from October 29-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“This unique experience celebrates positive solutions working in our communities.  It’s where people come to meet renowned authors, actors, visionaries and community leaders; shop with hundreds of green businesses; participate in DIY workshops; enjoy live music and local vegan and vegetarian cuisine; and join friends at the organic beer and wine garden.”’

Green Festival Comes to Los Angeles via Jonathan Mariano – Triple Pundit

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GREEN FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY OCTOBER 29-30

The nation’s largest green living event comes to Los Angeles Convention Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS: Georgia Malki
Denise Hamler
Phone: 828-333-9403 x 125
202-872-5303
Georgia@sevenstarevents.com
denisehamler@greenamerica.org

Summer Eco-Fashion at Green Festival

LOS ANGELES – The nation’s premier green living event comes to Los Angeles October 29-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This year, Green Festival celebrates a ten year milestone with over one million attendees in eight cities.

This unique experience celebrates positive solutions working in our communities.  It is where people come to meet renowned authors, actors, visionaries and community leaders; shop with hundreds of green businesses; participate in DIY workshops; enjoy live music and local vegan and vegetarian cuisine; and join friends at the organic beer and wine garden.

“In Mayor’s Villaraigosa ongoing commitment to make Los Angeles one of the world’s Greenest Cities,  he is happy to welcome Green Festival  to Los Angeles and looks forward to opening the festival on October 29th, says Romel Pascual, Deputy Mayor of Environment for Los Angles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa.

Ten stages and pavilions will host more than 125 inspirational and educational speakers and teachers, including: Dolores Huerta, Amy Goodman, Tom Hayden, Marianne Williamson, Rev. Lennox Yearwood and the Hip Hop Caucus, John Perkins, Starhawk, Mark Hertsgaard, David Korten, Jeffrey Smith, Jodie Evans and many more.

Spanish language programming will include Latino cooking demonstrations, greening your home and garden, and activities for the whole family at the Green Kid’s Zone.

“We are excited to host the inaugural Green Festival in Los Angeles and bring Angelenos together to learn how to bring sustainability into their lives,” says Jonathan Parfrey, Climate Resolve Executive Director and a commissioner at the Department of Water & Power Board.  ”For those of us who care about Los Angeles and its future, the Green Festival is a place to talk about climate change and how to prepare to adapt.”

With the holiday season just around the corner, Green Festival is the perfect location to support local businesses all in one location.  The Green Marketplace profiles hundreds of green and socially responsible businesses and organizations. Attendees browse everything from green, non-toxic home furnishings to organic clothing to Fair Trade gifts, children’s toys and much more.

“Whether you go to shop, learn, or experience art and music, Green Festival has it all, it is a great place to celebrate what is working in our communities and find the sustainable solutions that fit your lifestyle,” says Denise Hamler, Green Festival Director.

Green Festival offers something for the entire family. Peruse the latest in earth-friendly casual wear and couture in the eco-fashion show. View socially and environmentally impactful film shorts at the Communications Revolution Stage and the Sierra Club Green Cinema. Discover the latest in environmentally responsible construction materials and methods in the Green Building Pavilion. Move and meditate in the Yoga and Movement Pavilion. Empower your inner entrepreneur and find your next green career with Green Business Seminars.

Check out the latest in all-electric and hybrid transportation at the Ford Pavilion and enjoy a test drive right at the Green Festival.  Join Ford in celebrating social and environmental innovation in the community and vote for local individuals and nonprofits to win a $5,000 Ford Community Green Grant.

A joint project of Green America and Global Exchange, Green Festival is a non-profit 501c3 event to explore and build sustainable solutions for successful communities and a healthier environment.

Engage with Green Festivals online at www.GreenFestivals.org.

Connect with Green Festival on Facebook and Twitter @GreenFestival.

Sign up for the Green Festival Newsletter at www.greenfestivals.org/newsletter for program updates and giveaway opportunities.

Become a Green Festival volunteer and get free admission volunteer@greenfestivals.org.

Green Festival Partners make the event possible: Ford, The Los Angeles Times, Sierra Club, Earth Balance and Democracy Now.

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About Green America

Green America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today’s social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility.  www.greenamerica.org

About Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change. www.globalexchange.org

About Seven-Star, Inc.

Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally responsible and socially respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. Events include the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, 2008 Democratic National Convention events, and Green Festivals. Seven-Star is the first event company to win the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 92%.www.sevenstarevents.com

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SF tries again with cell phone radiation law

“Almost three months after it shelved a controversial cell phone radiation law, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is keeping the issue alive, but adopting a different strategy for doing so.

At its meeting tomorrow, the board will vote on amended legislation that would require retailers in the city to informational notices on radiofrequency (RF) exposure and offer fact sheets to consumers that request them. Proposed by Supervisor John Avalos, the revamped “Right to Ordinance” won unanimous approval last week from the board’s City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee.”

SF tries again with cell phone radiation law via Kent German – CNET

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Major Rally in Times Square Calls on Hershey Company to Stop Using Child Labor Chocolate

Kerry Kennedy, NYC Area Elementary and High School Students Tell Hershey They Don’t Want Chocolate Made by Exploited Kids

Human Rights Activist Kerry Kennedy calls on Hershey to stop using Child Labor at the Raise the Bar Hershey Rally in Times Square (Credit: Diane Greene Lent)

New York City – June 8, 2011 With World Day Against Child Labor right around the corner, hundreds students and concerned consumers gathered today in front of the Hershey Store in Times Square to call on Hershey to “raise the bar” by eliminating exploitative child labor from its cocoa production supply chain.

Human rights activist Kerry Kennedy also spoke at the rally.  She was joined by Lee Cutler, secretary treasurer of New York State United Teachers Union, as well as students, teachers and musical performers from the New York City area.

“The illegal use of child labor in chocolate production by Hershey and other chocolate-makers must stop,” said Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. “With this rally in Times Square, we are making sure that these companies hear that chocolate produced by children is a crime.”

A decade after major chocolate companies including Hershey agreed to eliminate abusive child labor, forced labor and trafficking from their supply chains, these abuses continue on West African cocoa farms. Hershey is lagging behind its competitors in implementing policies to end these abuses in its chocolate products. Families who grow cocoa also live in poverty due to unstable cocoa prices.  Students and consumers are calling on Hershey to take stronger action to end these labor rights violations and to start using Fair Trade Certified cocoa, which also guarantees farmers a stable price and additional funds for community development projects.

“The people at today’s rally represent the tens of thousands of consumers across the country who expect the companies they purchase from to care about the people who are at the very source of the products we buy” said Green America Fair Trade Coordinator Elizabeth O’Connell. “We are sending Hershey the message that it needs to make larger commitments to remove forced and child labor from its chocolate products.”

Global Exchange Fair Trade Campaign Director Adrienne Fitch-Frankel said:  “So many of us associate Hershey with sweet childhood memories.  The remarkable youth turnout at today’s rally shows that youth in the United States are outraged that, for a countless number of their peers in Africa, recollections of Hershey and childhood will mean bitter memories of exploitation in the cocoa fields.”

International Labor Rights Forum Campaigns Director Tim Newman said: “As World Day against Child Labor approaches this weekend, Hershey continues to lag behind its competitors in independently certifying that its cocoa is not produced by abusive child labor and forced labor. After ten years of broken promises, it’s time for Hershey to make firm commitments to sourcing Fair Trade Certified cocoa.”

The “Raise the Bar, Hershey!” campaign is organized by the non-profit groups Green America, International Labor Rights Forum, and Global Exchange. Over 30,000 consumers have taken action by sending e-mails, postcards, petitions, and making phone calls to the company asking it to end child labor. Campaign supporters across the country are joining the rally in solidarity by taking part in a national call-in day to Hershey headquarters (http://www.raisethebarhershey.org/take-action-call-hershey) and also through twitter by using the hashtag #HersheyGoFair.

For more information on Hershey’s corporate social responsibility record please read Time to Raise the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility Report for the Hershey Company. To read this report visit: http://www.raisethebarhershey.org.

To read why one local student is attending the rally today, please see this article by Ariana Taveras, a student in the class of 2012 at the Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariana-taveras/why-i-am-marching-at-hers_b_871973.html.

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Why I am Marching at Hershey's Store in Times Square

“At Benedictine Academy, we believe that every child has the right to an education and to be treated with dignity. Child slave labor in the chocolate industrymust be stopped.

A new documentary was recently released, The Dark Side of Chocolate, about child slave labor. We saw how the children were getting beaten and working in the hot sun, unable to go to school,” says student Norky Diaz. Her classmate, Kai Alexander, adds “We knew we had to get involved because we care what happens to children. Chocolate child labor is immoral.” And that is just what we did. Kai Alexander, a passionate writer immediately connected her pen to her heart and wrote a rap/poem for the SHAC (Students helping All Children) Squad to use to raise awareness among their classmates and students in other schools. It is also being used as the soundtrack of our new short documentary about child slave labor in the chocolate industry.”

Why I am Marching at Hershey’s Store in Times Square via Ariana Taveras – Huffington Post

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Cassidy Quinn Brettler Interviews Green America Green Business Network Director and Green Festival Co-Producer, Denise Hamler

Cassidy Quinn Brettler Interviews Green America Green Business Network Director and Green Festival Co-Producer, Denise Hamler via Jack Olmstead – Seattle Pi Blog

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The Green Festival Hits Seattle THIS Weekend!

“AM 1090 wants YOU to go GREEN at the Seattle Green Festival, THIS WEEKEND at Qwest Event Center!

Join AM 1090 & Don Willis Furniture for the Festival at the Qwest Field Event Center THIS  Saturday, May 21, 2011 10am – 7pm & Sunday, May 22, 2011 11am – 6pm! PLUS when you stop by our booth, you can enter to win 2 Natural Cedar Adirondack chairs courtesy of Don Willis Furniture!”

The Green Festival Hits Seattle THIS Weekend! via CBS Seattle

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