Posts Tagged Washington D.C.

THE NATION’S CAPITAL WELCOMES THE EIGHTH ANNUAL GREEN FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 29 & 30

Aug 17

Posted by joanna in News, Press Releases | Comments off

Social justice and environmental issues are key focus at the largest and longest running green consumer event with renowned authors, educators, and visionary leaders

The 8th Annual Washington DC Green Festival, Sept. 29-30 at the Washington Convention Center

Washington, D.C. (August 16, 2012) – The eighth annual premier green living event, Green Festival, rolls into the nation’s capital September 29-30, 2012. TheWalterE.WashingtonConvention Center will host eco-innovators, speakers, artists, community leaders and green businesses addressing environmental and social justice issues. It is the largest marketplace of conscious, fair-trade businesses and the place to get a head start on holiday shopping.

There are plenty of activities and workshops aimed at educating kids and families on making healthy lifestyle choices: highlights include a kids’ zone where youngsters can learn about easy and fun ways to be green, a Good Food Stage featuring delicious vegetarian cuisine, yoga classes and an organic beer and wine garden.

Keynote speakers include leading environmental, healthy lifestyle and social justice advocates: Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich, of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; political activist and author, Ralph Nader; Dr. Benjamin Chavis, a noted civil rights leader; Amy Goodman of Democracy NOW!; Laura Flanders of GRITtv; NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous; John Perkins; Greg Palast; and Medea Benjamin.

A joint venture between Green America and Global Exchange, Green Festival is a non-profit event that celebrates an 11 year milestone hosting over one million attendees in eight cities. Green Festival is the largest sustainability event and is the only event that screens exhibitors for their commitment to social justice and ecological balance using Green America’s Green Business Certification Standards.

FORD Motor and Green Festivals have partnered again to fund a $5,000 Community Green Grant at the Washington, DC Green Festival. Attendees can to vote for their favorite non-profit project at the FORD Community Green Grants Booth during show hours.

“We are excited to host the eighth annual Green Festival in the Nation’s Capital,” said Denise Hamler, Green Festival Director. “Green Festival is a celebration of what is working in our communities and about showing the healthy choices we can all make in our communities and in our lives that will make a difference – from the food we consume to the technology we use.”

At the center of Green Festival is the Green Marketplace, which features 300 green and socially responsible businesses/organizations, featuring the latest in sustainable products and services. Attendees will have the opportunity to browse everything from green, non-toxic home furnishings to eco-fashions, Fair Trade gifts, and children’s toys.

Attendees of all ages can learn at the hands-on DIY workshops and gain practical green tips to apply to everyday life. At the Green Business Pavilion attendees will experience what’s trending in green jobs and businesses.

Highlights include:

Ford Ride and Drive in all-electric and hybrid cars
Green Kids Zone
Eco-Fashion Showcase
Do-It-Yourself Workshops
Green Pet Stage and fashion show
Green Business Stage
Green Jobs and Careers
Green Investing
Renewable Energy
Beer and Wine Garden
Organic Local Food
Fair Trade Stage
Community Action Stage
Green Films
Live music
Bike Valet
Keynote speakers include: Congressman Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich, Ralph Nader, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Amy Goodman, John Perkins, Greg Palast, Laura Flanders, Benjamin Todd Jealous and Medea Benjamin

Key partners and sponsors include: Ford Motor Company, Ford Community Green Grants, Earth Balance, New York Times, O’Organics, MOM’s Organic Market, SustainU, NAACP, Clif Bar and Yelp DC.

The 2012 Green Festival will be held at the WalterE.WashingtonConvention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place N.W.Hall B, Washington, DC, 20001. Doors open Saturday, September 29^th 10 am – 7 pm and Sunday, September 30^th 11 am-6 pm.

Tickets are $10 for a one day pass and $20 for a full weekend pass when purchased online at www.greenfestivals.org, or $15 and $25 at the door. (All tickets provide access to exhibit floor, all workshops/yoga classes, speakers and films.) Discounted admission at the door for seniors (over 65) and students with student ID. Free admission for anyone who rides a bike to the event and parks with the bike valet, youth under eighteen, union members, volunteers and Green America and Global Exchange members.

For more information, please visit www.GreenFestivals.org. To exhibit, please call: 828-333-9403 x 300.

For partnership information, visit www.greenfestivals.org/become-a-partner.

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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.

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.

Tags: Amy Goodman, beer and wine, benjamin todd jealous, bike, capital, DC, Dennis Kucinich, DIY, eco-fashion, Elizabeth Kucinich, event, fair trade, food, Ford, Global Exchange, Green, Green America, Green Business, Green Festival, green pets, holiday shopping, naacp, National Children's Museum, organic, renewable energy, social justice, Sustainability, vegetarian, Washington D.C.

Vote Hemp Encourages Support for Proposed Amendment by Senator Wyden on Industrial Hemp in the Farm Bill

Jun 8

Posted by 7star.wwwmaster@gmail.com in News, Press Releases | Comments off

Amendment would Exclude Industrial Hemp from the Definition of Marihuana

CONTACT: Ryan Fletcher 202-641-0277
ryan@votehemp.com
Tom Murphy 207-542-4998
tom@votehemp.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vote Hemp released an action alert today encouraging support for Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed amendment to the Farm Bill, S.3240, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012, which would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of ‘marihuana.’ Senator Wyden’s amendment will empower American farmers by allowing them to once again grow industrial hemp, a profitable commodity with an expanding market. The cultivation of industrial hemp will be regulated by state permitting programs, like North Dakota’s, and will not impact the federal government’s long-standing prohibition of marijuana. The language of the amendment mirrors that of H.R. 1831, a bill introduced in the House this session (See:http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112hr1831).

To view the amendment, please go to: http://votehemp.com/legislation

“Industrial hemp is used in many healthy and sustainable consumer products. However, the federal prohibition on growing industrial hemp has forced companies to needlessly import raw materials from other countries,” says Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). “My amendment to the Farm Bill will change federal policy to allow U.S. farmers to produce hemp for these safe and legitimate products right here, helping both producers and suppliers to grow and improve Oregon’s economy in the process.”

To date, thirty-one states have introduced pro-hemp legislation and seventeen have passed legislation, while eight states (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia) have removed barriers to its production or research. However, despite state authorization to grow hemp, farmers in these states risk raids by federal agents and possible forfeiture of their farms if they plant the crop, due to the failure of federal policy to distinguish oilseed and fiber varieties ofCannabis (i.e., industrial hemp) from psychoactive drug varieties.

“This is the first time since the 1950′s that language supporting hemp has come to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote. The last time such language was presented was the Miller’s Amendment to the Marihuana Tax Act,” says Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “The time is past due for the Senate as well as President Obama and the Attorney General to prioritize the crop’s benefits to farmers and to take action like Rep. Paul and the cosponsors of H.R. 1831 have done. With the U.S. hemp industry valued at over $400 million in annual retail sales and growing, a change in federal policy to allow hemp farming would mean instant job creation, among many other economic and environmental benefits,” adds Steenstra.

The Farm Bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government. The comprehensive omnibus bill is passed every five years or so by the United States Congress and deals with both agriculture and all other affairs under the purview of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Last year, for the fourth time since the federal government outlawed hemp farming in the United States over 50 years ago, a bill was introduced by Rep. Ron Paul in the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed the bill H.R. 1831, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011, would remove restrictions on the cultivation of industrial hemp, the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis. Senator Wyden would like to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.

“Senator Wyden’s effort is unprecedented and totally commendable, but in my view the existing prohibition of hemp farming stems less from current law, but rather the misinterpretation of existing law by the Obama Administration,” says Steenstra.

The amendment comes on the heels of the Obama Administration’s reply to Vote Hemp’s We the People petition. The response conflates industrial hemp as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. This contradicts the clear definition of marijuana presented in Title 21 of United States Code 802(16) that explicitly excludes the oilseed and fiber varieties of the hemp plant that are legal to manufacture, consume, process and purchase throughout the United States without penalty of controlled substance violation. The hemp farming petition and the administration’s response can be found at http://wh.gov/gKH.

The timing of Senator Wyden’s amendment also coincides with the 3rd annual Hemp History Week campaign, June 4-10, 2012, which he supports. The national grassroots education campaign organized by Vote Hemp and The Hemp Industries Association is designed to renew strong support for the return of hemp farming to the U.S. The 2012 Hemp History Week campaign will feature over 800 events in cities and towns throughout all fifty states.

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Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow this agricultural crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop’s many uses may be found atwww.VoteHemp.com or www.TheHIA.org. Video footage of hemp farming in other countries is available upon request by contacting Ryan Fletcher at 202-641-0277 orryan@votehemp.com.

Tags: agriculture, bill industrial, farm, federal, Green, Green Festival, hemp, hemp history week, legislation, policy, Washington D.C.

‘I’m scared out of my mind’—but still getting arrested to stop the tar-sands pipeline [VIDEO]

Aug 22

Posted by 7star.wwwmaster@gmail.com in News | Comments off

“More than 100 activists have been arrested so far for protesting against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in front of the White House — and more are getting locked up every day. At least 2,100 people have signed up to participate in the two-week sit-in, which kicked off on Saturday and will continue every day through Sept. 3. Not all of the protestors are intending to get arrested, but expect hundreds more to serve some time in the clink.”

‘I’m scared out of my mind’—but still getting arrested to stop the tar-sands pipeline [VIDEO] via Grist

Tags: 350, arrest, Bill McKibben, canada, civil disobedience, climate, climate change, crude, DC, Green, Green Festival, keystone xl, keystone xl pipeline, Oil, oil industry, protest, tar sands, UNITED STATES, Washington D.C., white house

Hip hop activist speaks on asthma, environment

May 26

Posted by 7star.wwwmaster@gmail.com in News | Comments off

Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. cleared the air about pollution and sustainable existence when he spoke recently at the Green Festival.

The two-day event celebrating a decade of providing eco-friendly solutions to everyday life was held at McCormick Place earlier this month.

Yearwood is the president of the Washington, D.C.-based Hip Hop Caucus, and has traveled the country discussing the need for renewable energy and clean air.

May is Asthma Awareness Month, and Yearwood remarked how staggering asthma rates reached the local level.

Hip hop activist speaks on asthma, environment via Keisha Price – Chicago Defender

Tags: activist, asthma, atmosphere, awareness, breathing, Chicago, environment, Green, Green Festival, Health, hip hop caucus, illness, may, pollution, poverty, respiratory, rev yearwood, reverend lennox yearwood, safety, Washington D.C., youth

Joining Together to Create a Sustainable World: The Stewardship Action Council is Launched

Jan 27

Posted by 7star.wwwmaster@gmail.com in Press Releases | Comments off

The Stewardship Action Council Brings Together Industry, Academia, the Investment Community, and Governmental and Non-governmental Organizations to Collaborate on Sustainability.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-January 26th, 2011 The Stewardship Action Council (SAC) announces its formation today. This new multi-stakeholder organization is dedicated to promoting and improving sustainable and socially responsible business practices, providing a space where cross-functional collaboration can take place, and developing a performance-based sustainability index.

SAC is a coalition of industry, academia, the investment community and governmental and non-governmental organizations, coming together with the belief that collaboration among different groups can generate solutions to the sustainability challenges that each group is facing. With a focus on trust, transparency, and technical expertise, SAC offers a pathway to demonstrable results for all stakeholders.

Among SAC’s goals are creating a multi-stakeholder learning network, creating collaborative partnerships to address local and regional environmental, social and economic challenges, advancing sustainability performance and recognizing and sharing outcomes.

“The world has changed, and the time for partnership and collaboration among these often disparate groups has come. If we are to succeed at creating a sustainable world, we will need to combine our knowledge, talents and varied perspectives. The Stewardship Action Council gives us a platform for this effort,” noted Anne Vogel-Marr, SAC Executive Director.

Membership in SAC is open to industrial facilities, academic institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, the investment community and trade associations. Members will be designated as Alliance or Participating Members, based upon their desire to set measurable goals and report upon them publicly. Alliance members, generally academic institutions and government and non-governmental organizations, will support SAC, but will not set goals. Participating members, generally industrial facilities, will set and report on goals.

Founding members of SAC include:

For more information about SAC, please contact:
Anne Vogel-Marr, Executive Director at 202-296-3952 or anne@stewardshipaction.org,www.stewardshipaction.org

http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/31472-Joining-Together-to-Create-a-Sustainable-World-The-Stewardship-Action-Council-is-Launched

Tags: environment, government, SAC, Stewardship Action Council, Sustainability, trade, Washington D.C.