Todd Burnham
| MY EXCHANGE ENTRIES: |
You purchase organic cotton bedding and pesticide-free fruits and vegetables. At home, you use a vacuum with a HEPA filter and make sure that your children wash their hands before eating. But are you hiding skeletons under the sink or in the closet? I’m referring to chemical-based, conventional cleaning products - those bottles usually marked, per federal regulation, with a skull-and-crossbones logo.
In the US, accidental ingestion of chemical-based cleaning products accounts for many trips to the emergency room and calls to the Poison Control Center. Bleach is a strong corrosive and may cause pulmonary edema or coma if ingested, while ammonia can damage the eyes, respiratory tract, and skin. These aren’t the only harmful ingredients in conventional cleaning products, but manufacturers purposely omit many dangerous ingredients from labels. Additionally, chemical cleaning products end up in our waterways, soil, and landfills, where they contribute to oxygen-depleted ocean dead-zones, release harmful gases into our air, and poison both humans and wildlife. Read more...
Norway will donate $1 billion to Brazil's Amazon protection fund through 2015, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, to help Brazil fight deforestation.
Norway, the first country to pledge money to the fund, will donate as much as $130 million next year, the Norwegian Embassy in Brasilia said.
Via: reuters.com Read more...
Carpooling sites are not new to the web, but Carticipate.com has advanced the network into your phone...iPhone that is. They have created an iphone application allows you to broadcast your timing and destination to other iPhone travellers to share or find a ride - which translates into less gas consumed, more new friends, and more money saved. Not to mention the oh so much faster carpool lane.
via: TreeHugger Read more...
On December 24th, 400 Indian youth will leave Mumbai India on an adventure that will lead them through 13 Indian cities and over 8000 km. The students will travel throughout India to meet with business leaders and innovative social entrepreneurs in an effort to inspire a new vision for India's future.
This journey, called the Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008, is sponsored by Tata Group, India’s renown, socially minded business conglomerate, and Jagriti Sewa Sansthan, an NGO based in India that promotes entrepreneurship. (Ode covered the Tata Group and social capitalism in the May 2008 issue.) Read more...
Are you a high school student active in or interested in environmental issues? The Weather Channel is sponsoring the Forecast Earth Summit in Washington D.C., to educate the next generation about climate and environmental literacy.
Twenty high school students will win free trips to attend the Summit where they will participate in several activities such as creating public service announcements for The Weather Channel, building and launching a boat made from recycled materials, and meeting with environmental leaders and scientists. Read more...
Calling all college graduates: this fall Idealist.org will host 16 Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good across the United States, where potential applicants can meet with representatives from graduate programs. Each event will also offer a set of workshops that will describe the various degrees, illuminate the application and financial aid process, and guide attendees in how to transition back to school.
At each of the fairs, you will meet representatives from 60 to 120 of the leading nonprofit-related graduate programs in the country, representing degrees ranging from MPAs and MBAs through Law, Social Work, International Relations, Urban Planning, and many more. Read more...
Mandakini and Prakash Amte have been conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, for serving the medical, education and livelihood needs of remote tribal communities in Maharashtra for over 30 years
Prakash Amte and his wife Mandakini, both doctors, have been awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership 2008. The Magsaysay Award, given annually by the government of the Philippines, is considered to be the Asian Nobel. Read more...
Creative alternative fuel sources lead the news these days for good reason. From Switch Grass to industrial scraps we are waking up to the possibilities all around us for closing the loop on waste and energizing our ventures in the process. Here is a great story about researchers at Clemson University using microbes to digest the 20 million rotting peaches that are wasted each year in South Carolina. The result: hydrogen fuel from peaches for tractors to harvest peaches. What's not to love about that loop?
For more information please click on this link: www.clemson.edu
