Scientist threatened by Monsanto!

Wow - I guess this is not completely out of character with Monsanto...but still seriously disturbing!

From OrganicConsumers.org:

There are reports coming our of Argentina of attempts to intimidate the lead researcher of the study showing that Roundup - the glyphosate herbicide developed by Monsanto, could cause brain, intestinal and heart defects in fetuses.

The lead researcher for the new study, carried out in Argentina where Roundup is used on a massive scale in conjunction with GM herbicide-resistant soy, is embryology professor, Dr. Andres Carrasco.

Dr. Carrasco has worked for nearly thirty years in embryonic development, and was President and Assistant Secretary of Conicet (The National Commission for Scientific Research) and now works at the Defence Ministry in the Science and Technology innovation department. He apparently conducted the experiments in his laboratory of molecular embryology, based at the Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires.


Continue reading>>>

Banana Republic goes green!

Banana Republic goes green!

From Business Mirror:

This summer, clothing emporium Banana Republic goes casual chic and taps into the our deep love for music. At its stores in Rustan’s Makati and Greenbelt 5, the displays evoke “eco-conscious choices in product, packaging and signage that has become an integral part of the brand’s functionality.” Meanwhile, in faraway San Mateo, California, a talented Filipina, Quenby Go, works her visual-merchandising magic to attract the musically inclined as fashion meets music as this season’s other theme, “Rhythms of Spring.”

Banana Republic’s Heritage Collection features 90-percent sustainable fabrications in 45 pieces of comfortable clothing (including pantaloon shorts with delicate blouson hems, airy cotton shift dresses, tailored cardigans and polos) all with the iconic Green Elephant. “The ultimate luxury,” says creative director and EVP for design Simon Kneen, “and one we should all be able to afford, is a healthy planet.”

For more, visit Business Mirror's article>>>

Coke will have NA's largest hybrid fleet

Taken from Waste News:

Bottler and distributor Coca-Cola Enterprises will deploy North America´s largest hybrid electric delivery truck fleet in 2009.

The company will add 185 hybrid electric trucks in the United States and Canada this year, bringing its total number of hybrid electric delivery trucks to 327. The vehicles will eliminate waste while protecting the environment, said John F. Brock, CEO of CCE. Eaton Hybrid Power systems will run the Kenworth Truck Co. vehicles.

"Their investment in hybrid electric vehicles distinguishes the company amongst its peers and ensures that it remains at the forefront as a true leader in corporate responsibility and sustainability," said Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.

help stop child exploitation and sex slavery

One of my customers Tiffany works with this non profit organization - it's mandate is to work towards ending child exploitation. The accounts are chilling - I recommend you read about why "146" is part of the name of their non-profit - it will make you cry...

And I am printing here their 146 ways to help:

Need some ideas on how you can get involved? We've got at least 146 ways you could start......

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1. Listen to the story of #146 and let the heaviness of the issue settle in your soul

2. Get to know the Love146.org website

3. Memorize the statistics about child sex slavery

4. Sign up to become an Abolitionist

5. Email the website link to all your friends, family, coworkers

6. Read and comment on the Love146.org blog

7. Tell a friend the story of #146 in person

8. Comment about Love146 to all your friends on their Myspace pages and add it as one of your interests and top friends

9. This Saturday, instead of mowing your yard like normal, mow the number 146 and let the rest of your yard stay long.

10. Post Love146.org as a website and interest on your Facebook profile and share it with your networks.

11. Write Love146.org on all your paper money

12. View the story of Love146 on YouTube

13. Send the video of the Love146 story on YouTube to all your friends, family, coworkers

14. Add the Love146 banner and video to your Myspace page

15. Think about #146

16. Post the video of the Love146 story on your Facebook page and join the Love146 Facebook Cause

17. Share our blog with all your friends

18. Write #146 on a nametag and wear it to school or work

19. Comment about the Love146 video on YouTube

20. Never forget

21. Sign up to receive the Love146 newsletter

22. Use your body as a creative billboard for #146

23. Download the Love146.org poster image, copy fliers, and post them all over your school

24. Organize a Love146 house party event in your region

25. Put a Love146 bumper sticker on your car

26. Create a piece of art telling the story of #146 and children like her

27. Put a link to the Love146 blog on your personal or business blog

28. Start a student group at your high school that focuses on bringing awareness of the Love146 story and child sex slavery to your peers and local community

29. Sign the Love146 petitions

30. Add Love146 as the official charity for your company

31. Write Love146.org on separate pieces of poster board and go with friends to a televised sporting event. During the game, hold up the sign for the world to see

32. Write Love146.org on all your school notebooks.

33. Donate $25 to Love146

34. Text a friend about Love146.org

35. Add the Love146.org blog on your personal blog as one of your favorites and post the video

36. Write a letter to your city mayor asking him/her to involve your city in the fight to end child sex slavery

37. Write a letter to your senator asking him/her to support stronger enforcement of the US anti-trafficking law

38. Wear a Love146 t-shirt (or design one and send it to us)

39. Organize a local Love146 taskforce in your city to raise awareness

40. Take a picture of number 146 on your cell phone and save it as your screensaver to help remind you of the issue

41. Hug your children and tell them you love them

42. Buy a friend a Love146 T-shirt

43. Become a monthly partner of Love146 for $50 a month

44. Have your youth group at your local place of worship sponsor an event that will raise awareness of child sex slavery

45. Hang outside a local or national news station with a Love146 sign

46. Make your own video about child sex slavery and post it on YouTube

47. Call a friend and tell them about #146 and the many children she represents

48. Create your own t-shirt idea for Love146, and upload it on our website for approval and production

49. Email the Love146 newsletter to friends, family and coworkers with a personal note

50. Upload your own version of how Love146 looks to you for us to place on the website

51. Get as many college student groups as possible to work together and put on a Love146 event on your college campus

52. Write your congressman/woman and encourage him/her to fight for more money to go towards ending child sex slavery

53. Download the video of the Love146 story and hold a community service meeting in your dorm for people to watch so they can learn more about this issue

54. Book a time slot on your local access TV station to show the 146 video

55. Create a TV segment about the story of 146 and get it aired on local access TV

56. Donate $50 to Love146

57. Download the video of Love146 on YouTube with ‘Tubesock’ and convert it to an iPod video. Show your friends the video on your iPod

58. Sew the Love146 patch on your book bag

59. Start a Love146 college chapter that raises awareness of child sex slavery at your university

60. Host a Love146 representative as a speaker for your local event

61. Put the Love146.org website banner on your website

62. Take the Love146.org image from our website and make flyers to hand out at large events in your city

63. Put a Love146.org sticker on your guitar case

64. Talk to your religious leader about sponsoring an event to raise awareness about child sex slavery

65. Start a petition on your college campus to help pressure governments to allocate resources to stop child sex slavery

66. Hand out official Love146.org info cards that tell her story

67. Help start a walk-a-thon in your city to raise money for Love146

68. Collect items and money for a safehome worker toolkit

69. Write your local news station asking them to cover child sex slavery

70. Write Love146 anywhere that is legal

71. Talk to local businesses in your area about donating 1.46% of their sales for a day, month, or year to Love146

72. Place an official Love146 ad in a local magazine or newspaper

73. Add Love146 as your screensaver

74. Ask a local bookstore or coffee shop to put Love146 posters in their window

75. Add Love146.org as one of your interests on your Myspace page

76. Take the Love146.org image and make posters to spread throughout your college dorm, or apartment complex

77. Donate $100 to Love146

78. Organize and attend a child trafficking awareness rally

79. Help organize a competitive sport tournament to raise awareness about child sex slavery

80. Get all your friends to write your local paper and encourage them to cover the Love146 story

81. Wear a Love146 hat

82. Download the Love146.org image and hand out flyers at a concert

83. Complete the Love146 training program to become a safe home parent

84. Call your local travel agents and inform them of the issue so that they can be aware of and prevent potential predators from taking trips by signing the ECPAT Code of Conduct

85. Ask your local bookstores and coffee shops to put Love146.org palm cards next to the register

86. Tell people about Love146.org on your voicemail message

87. Add Love146.org to your email signature

88. Sponsor a local recreation sports league with the name Love146

89. Add Love146 as the charity for your sorority

90. Get a Love146.org magnet to put on the side of your car

91. Research the child sex slavery issue

92. Put a Love146.org sticker on your school notebook

93. Download the Love146 sound bite as your cell phone ringer

94. Wear the Love146 dog tags

95. Encourage your local farmer to write Love146 in his fields

96. Go to goodsearch.com and search for Love146

97. Put up Love146 flyers in your office building to inform your coworkers of the child sex slavery problem

98. Place an official Love146 ad in a national magazine

99. Call your local radio station and talk to them about Love146 and the issue of child sex slavery

100. Hold an observance meeting on the 146th day of the year as a reminder of #146 and every child like her

101. Start a Love146 Xbox league

102. Leave official 146 info cards at a local restaurant

103. Wear the Love146 bracelet and buy one for a friend

104. Write a poem about #146 and send it to us to put on our website

105. Sponsor a booth at a local marathon or festival in the name of Love146

106. Show a documentary or film about child sex slavery in your town to raise awarness

107. Talk to your college student government council about hosting a Love146 day on your university

108. Create an online forum to discuss the story of #146 and generate ideas on how to eradicate child sex slavery

109. Organize a Love146 bowling league team

110. Become a Love146 monthly partner for $25

111. Write your congressman to raise awareness for child sex slavery

112. Add Love146.org to your favorite website links

113. Start a local community group that works to bring awareness of child sex slavery in your city

114. Give an obscene amount of money to Love146.org

115. Ask your religious institution to sponsor you to go to a Love146 awareness training event

116. Write out the story of Love146 in your own words and hand it out to anyone who will take it

117. Make fighting child sex slavery a career

118. Write Love146.org on all your restaurant receipts you leave on the table

119. Find an airplane that will fly over your city with a Love146.org banner covering the sky

120. Design a wrist band for the Love146 story and send it to us for approval

121. Lease a wall on a building downtown facing a major street and hang red dresses on it representing #146 and all children like her

122. Start a child sex slavery awareness day on your college campus

123. Host a Love146 fundraiser

124. Become a Love146 monthly partner for $100

125. Show the Love146 video at your home to friends and coworkers

126. Add Love146 as the charity for your fraternity

127. Sew the numbers “1,4,6” on your book bag

128. Fill a glass box with red dresses and place it in the middle of Times Square(or your downtown area) with Love146 on the box

129. Sponsor someone participating in a local race or event in the name of Love146

130. Let the hope of restoration settle in your soul

131. Pray at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. for these children

132. Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center 1.888.3737.888 if you are or know a trafficking victim

133. Collect 1,460 coins at school to donate

134. Put a Love146 sticker on your coffee mug, laptop, sports equipment, car, etc.

135. Ask your local movie theater to run a Love146 short video before the film starts

136. Wear #146 pinned to your chest

137. Raise $146 and designate it toward a safehome for rescued children

138. Light a candle each night to remember the children who are enslaved and celebrate the ones who are free

139. Show a documentary or film in your town about child sex slavery

140. Throw an Abolition party for 146 people

141. Tattoo 146 on your body in honor of her and the millions she represents

142. Hand out Love146 info cards and stickers to 146 strangers in a public place

143. Use sidewalk chalk to write statistics about child sex slavery in approved areas

144. Investigate publications and websites that could be used by traffickers to advertise trafficking victims

145. Choose one of these things and do it!

146. Come up with better ideas for this list (and email them to us)!

Moms band together to save their businesses

This is good news, though since the CPSIA goes into effect in February - here is the link to the Reform CPSIA site and the petition...

Tara

Calculating The Carbon Footprint Of A Google Search

Jan 12, 2009 at 8:20am ET by Greg Sterling - original article here.

That’s exactly what several scientists and researchers tried to do: figure out how much CO2 is emitted from performing a search on Google. Here’s what the Times Online said over the weekend in summarizing these estimates:

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.

While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”

The issue is how much energy is used by Google’s data centers, which process search queries from all over the globe. There’s another estimate in the piece, which is more favorable for Google:

A separate estimate from John Buckley, managing director of carbonfootprint.com, a British environmental consultancy, puts the CO2 emissions of a Google search at between 1g and 10g, depending on whether you have to start your PC or not. Simply running a PC generates between 40g and 80g per hour, he says. of CO2 Chris Goodall, author of Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, estimates the carbon emissions of a Google search at 7g to 10g (assuming 15 minutes’ computer use).

The same day Google posted what appears to be a refutation/response on its blog:

Recently, though, others have used much higher estimates, claiming that a typical search uses “half the energy as boiling a kettle of water” and produces 7 grams of CO2. We thought it would be helpful to explain why this number is *many* times too high. Google is fast — a typical search returns results in less than 0.2 seconds. Queries vary in degree of difficulty, but for the average query, the servers it touches each work on it for just a few thousandths of a second. Together with other work performed before your search even starts (such as building the search index) this amounts to 0.0003 kWh of energy per search, or 1 kJ. For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

In terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2. The current EU standard for tailpipe emissions calls for 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven, but most cars don’t reach that level yet. Thus, the average car driven for one kilometer (0.6 miles for those of in the U.S.) produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand Google searches.

In one sense, there’s an absurdity to this discussion because one could argue that the internet saves paper and thus trees, which reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. One could also argue that the internet permits people to work from distributed locations and so they don’t need to commute as much, which in turn saves fossil fuels and CO2 emissions. The nature of the debate and the conclusions drawn depend heavily on the lens though which you view the question — and how wide the aperture is.

Biofuels were initially aggressively embraced by the EU until it was discovered that food cultivation was threatened in some areas, as well as the rainforests.

The question of environmental impact is thus a complex one. This is not to say that data centers can’t become more energy efficient and they will. Whatever your opinion of Google it’s clearly one of the most “responsible” companies in Silicon Valley in terms of environmental work and advocacy.

Pics of our Spotted Box Submission!

Hi all!

The mod of our Serenity Tree congo on Hyena Cart just sent all of us pics of our samples - these will be included in the next Spotted Box!


Tara