Gucci Goes Green

 Gucci is going green. The Italian luxury brand has announced that it is going to make a few green changes, including redesigning their packing to be eco-friendly, using 100 percent recyclable FSC Certified paper.
The Italian label will now forgo the usual plastic laminate surfaces found in their tissue paper, bags and boxes. The ribbon and garment bags have been switched to cotton from the original polyester material.
They will be packing their shoes in one flannel instead of two. They will also give out gift boxes only when requested.
Also, Gucci is replacing all of its mannequins with a new version, designed by Frida Giannini, which is made with shockproof polystyrene and finished with water-based paints.
Creative director Frida Giannini was quoted by vogue.co.uk as saying, "This project proves hat you sacrifice nothing creatively when working with environmentally friendly materials."
"The new packaging is very beautiful and evokes perfectly the combination of Gucci's values and the traditions for which is has become renowned since Guccio Gucci founded the company in Florence nearly 90 years ago."
"I believe we have a collective responsibility towards future generations to minimize our impact on the environment."
The initiative will be introduced in all of its 284 stores starting this month.

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Walk On The Beach

What better way to enjoy the summer than to take a walk.

There's just no question that regular physical activity is an essential ingredient of a healthy lifestyle. A little exercise goes a long way toward lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. It can also boost your energy and mood, help manage your weight, and even promote a better night's sleep.
There are lots of ways to exercise. You can take a dance class, go for a swim, or join a yoga class. But the simplest way is to start walking. You can walk anywhere, anytime, with anyone. All you need are comfortable clothes and a good pair of walking shoes.

Staying motivated is half the battle when you are trying to establish and stick to an exercise routine.
Change things up by taking different routes from time to time. Invite a friend, partner or spouse along. If purpose is what keeps you going, consider walking to do your errands or park a little further away from your destination. So put on your hat , and enjoy the sun but most of all  Enjoy your Walk !

Don't forget to drink water.......




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US experts find undersea oil from spill

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Duke Energy Center gets highest 'green' designation

Wells Fargo & Co. said yesterday that the Duke Energy Center  has been certified at the highest level of environmental certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The 48-story building, which opened in January, is the first and tallest office tower to receive the certification.
The building initially was meant to be the new headquarters for Wachovia Corp. But after Wells Fargo bought the collapsing Wachovia in late 2008, Duke Energy Corp. took over the naming rights to the tower.
Among the center's green attributes are recycling rainwater, and a roof that reduces heating and cooling costs.  The Duke Energy Center is located in Charlotte, North Carolina.







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Fear and Anger On The US-Mexico Border

Arizona is at the center of the US debate over immigration after introducing a tough new law targeting illegal entrants to the country. The BBC's Robin Lustig traveled to the state's border with Mexico, and met those on the frontline of the issue.

If you look through the bars of the steel fence in Nogales,Southern Arizona, you find yourself looking at Nogales, Mexico.
The fence marks the international border between the US and Mexico - and it runs right through the town.
Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans cross this border illegally every year, and an increasing number of Americans want to stop them.


Dealing with illegal immigrants is what Border Patrol Agent Richard Funke does every day.As he drove me along the high steel border fence, he told me: "You see people watching that fence every hour of every day. Someone tries to get across every day of the year."
And sure enough, within minutes, we had spotted a young Mexican darting through a hole in the fence. But other agents had spotted him too; and he was soon back in Mexico again.
Footprints Out in the desert, Agent Funke suddenly pulled over to show me a trail leading from the road towards the border. "Look at those footprints," he said. "They're no more than a few hours old … someone was here earlier this morning, probably dropping off a consignment of drugs from across the border."
Thirty miles north of the border, I met Pat King, round-faced and friendly, at home on the ranch that she runs with her husband John. With her grand-daughters scampering about as the sun set below the hills and the shadows lengthened, she told me why she wants illegal immigrants stopped.
"They come across the ranch, right up by the house. Our fences are damaged, our gates are left open, the cattle stray.
"We see so much drug-smuggling, the Mexican cartels are getting much stronger. If the men go out and stumble across a group of smugglers, they're convinced they're going to end up with a bullet in the back."
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Wake Up America - Eco-Friendly Song

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Gulf oil spill reaches day 50, Obama wants an 'ass to kick,' residents just want a solution

The Gulf Coast has had its behind beaten for the past seven weeks. Now President Obama wants an "ass to kick."
When an offshore oil rig near the Louisiana coast exploded April 20, no one immediately anticipated the blast would spark the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Fifty days later, the environmental catastrophe is crystal clear.
In the following weeks, Americans have watched the CEO of the company responsible for the disaster jam his foot into his mouth repeatedly while efforts to stop the massive spill failed.
The government's response, lacking sufficient outrage according to the public, has been equally unable to keep thousands of gallons of oil each day from spewing into the Gulf.
BP CEO Tony Hayward has recently apologized for comments like, "I want my life back," that the Gulf was "a big ocean" and that "the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest."
President Obama used the gaffes to fire back, most notably saying in a "Today" show interview that he would fire Hayward if he were his boss and that he's looking for an "ass to kick."
All this while black ooze smothers the region's wildlife and economy.
Thad Allen, the Coast Guard admiral in charge of the government effort, summed up the chaos and confusion.
"Everyone wants certainty," he said. "With an oil spill like this, there isn't any."
Even the numbers are murky. Estimates peg the amount of oil floating in the ocean between 23 million and 49 million gallons.

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Summer Getaway, Don't Forget Your Solar Charger

Charging cell phones, MP3 players, PDAs, cameras, and more can be a drain, especially if you are out and about with the family and there's no outlet in sight. Taking a solar charger along on your getaway can help you avoid the dying cell phone disaster since it draws power from the sun to amp up nearly any device.

Solar chargers come in a range of shapes and sizes and can be separated into two categories: those with built-in batteries (which means you can store your sun power for later use) and those without batteries (they send the solar power straight to your player — no middle man, but also no reserve power once the sun sets). You may also choose one with a battery for use at home to save electricity: You can leave the charger in the sun all day (on a south-facing windowsill, for example), then come home and charge your device at night. A majority of the devices offer a female USB port, similar to what is on your computer. This USB port offers the flexibility of charging many electronics that already come with a USB cable, so searching for the right connector is not necessary.

Happy Travels and don't forget your solar charger. Enjoy Your Vacation.








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Ceremonies Launch Clean Energy Venture

Two gentlemen from Ohio inked a partnership Sunday that they say could help create more than 2,000 sustainable jobs over the next decade in the Mahoning Valley. Today, the pair will affix their signatures again, this time on a document co-signed by an incubator in Israel that will work with them to enhance technological innovation in Northeast Ohio.

Scott, president of Applied Systems and Technology Transfer, Utah, and Garvey, president of M-7 Technologies, Youngstown, signed the agreement during a press event at Youngstown State University's Moser Hall. Their new partnership, Ohio Clean Technologies Group, is designed to facilitate and bring to market high-tech applications related to alternative and "clean" energy.

"There's a tremendous need for companies looking for industry partners, government contracts and final validation for their technology," Scott said. "Our company identifies these companies and works with them to get the resources they need, find the assistance they need to take those technologies to commercialization and to create jobs here."

Scott explained that the relationship with LN Technologic -- the Israeli incubator that Ohio Clean Technologies will sign a cooperative agreement with this afternoon -- began in January when the pair visited Israel as part of a delegation that included the mayors of Youngstown and Warren, local business leaders and representatives of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

"Some of the most innovative technologies we've seen have come out of Israel," Scott said. "What they've done is partnered with their defense department." That relationship, he continued, has helped create new technological applications that transcend military use and are adopted by the private sector rapidly. "Their defense department is key to the development and commercialization of technology," he said.

Advances in laser technologies, remote sensors, wind and solar cells are among the initiatives under development at LN Innovative Technologies. "We want to create a link with the Israeli incubator companies and identify and transfer those technologies back here," Scott noted.

The goal is to incorporate the expertise at nearby universities such as YSU, Akron University and Kent State University, and the cluster of small technology companies housed in the Youngstown Business Incubator.

Ohio Clean Technologies is in the final stages of negotiating a lease for 20,000 square-feet of office and manufacturing space at the Ohio Works Business Park, which would serve as an interim location until the group constructs a building of its own, Scott said. The long-term objective is to acquire 10 acres next to M-7 Technologies at the park and build a multipurpose center to test and help bring to market alternative energy efforts.





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BP: Gulf oil spill costs have reached $1.25B

BP says the cost of the company's response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reached about $1.25 billion.
The company announced the total in a news release Monday. BP says the figure does not include $360 million for a project to build six sand berms meant to protect Louisiana's wetlands from spreading oil.
The news comes as the government's point man on the spill warned that the battle to contain the oil is likely to stretch into the fall.
Millions of gallons of oil have spilled since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, killing 11 workers.





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Not Easy Being Green - Funny Peas Animation

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That's Organic, Cute Video

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2000 Mile Drive To Support AZ. Law

BP Gulf Oil Spill Update

Florida Oil Update:

Satellite imagery has confirmed as early as the beginning of this week that large sheens of oil were approaching the beaches of Florida. It’s really been a guessing game for the residents of Florida as to when exactly the oil would start hitting the beaches.  
Musician Jimmy Buffett, wearing his Margaritaville-brand flip-flops, stood Saturday on a pier at tar-ball blotched Pensacola Beach and led a pro-beach rally, urging Floridians to "not get a 'sky is falling' attitude" over the looming oil slick.
Buffett said he has survived hurricanes, getting shot at in Jamaica and a plane crash, and he insisted he's ready to ride out the oil-spill disaster that in the last two days has hit the white sand beaches of the Florida Panhandle.
"This is an environmental disaster nobody asked for, but Floridians are  tough people," Buffet said to the crowd of 1,000 beachgoers.
Tar balls swept along by strong winds hit more of the Panhandle coast Saturday, including Perdido Key at the far west end of the state and Grayton Beach, about 60 miles east of Pensacola Beach. A dozen tar mats — slabs of thickened crude as long as 30 feet  — were found near Navarre Beach.
As spill-response workers collected oil blobs in the background, Buffett was joined by Gov. Charlie Crist. Although the expanding slick is largely offshore, it continues to drift east and threatens to devastate the state's crucial tourism industry.      See Full Story

Containment Cap Update:

A containment cap that sucked some of the oil from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico offered a small sign of progress for a region that has seen its wildlife coated in a lethal oil muck, its fishermen idled and its beaches tarnished by the nation's worst oil spill.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Saturday that after its first full day of work, the cap placed on the gusher near the sea floor trapped about 252,000 gallons of oil, which is somewhere between a quarter to half of the oil flowing from the well, according to government estimates.
Next, engineers at BP PLC must attempt to close vents on the cap that were deliberately allowing streams of oil to escape the system so water cannot get inside. When water and gas combined in an earlier containment box, it formed a frozen slush that foiled the system.
Allen, who said the goal is to gradually increase the amount of the oil being captured, compared the process to stopping the flow of water from a garden hose with a finger: "You don't want to put your finger down too quickly, or let it off too quickly."
While BP plans to eventually use an additional set of hoses and pipes to increase the amount of oil being trapped, the ultimate solution remains a relief well that should be finished by August.  Click For Full Story 







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Eating Right For Vegetarians

It is possible to have a fully balanced diet that is entirely vegetarian? If you work it right, all you need to do is eat smart to make your meals as complete as possible.
If you consider a meal of potatoes and rotis or rice and dal as staple vegetarian fare, then you could be getting seriously short-changed on some key nutrients. In such a diet, you will not be getting the required intake of protein, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and omega 3 fatty acids.

BALANCE YOUR PROTEINS
Plant foods offer incomplete protein as they tend to be deficient in one or other essential amino acids (protein is made of building blocks called amino acids and our body needs nine of these from food). But this problem can be managed easily by being careful about both the kind and amount of protein being eaten.

How to:
1. Combine plant foods wisely to cover all essential amino acids. For example, legumes (cooked dried beans, dried peas, and lentils) are low in sulfur-containing amino acids (such as methionine), but they are high in another amino acid called lysine. Grains are just the opposite. So by eating both together or during the course of a day, you can get the benefits of both. Beans and rice,  dal-chawal, khichri, pita bread with hummus (ground garbanzo beans and sesame seed paste) are good examples of complementary proteins.
2. Look for variety. Don’t stick to just the known sources like legumes and dairy — nuts for instance are an easy and tasty source of high-quality protein.

HAVE MORE IRON
The best sources of iron tend to be non-vegetarian (liver, egg, sardines etc). Iron from plant foods (nonheme) is not absorbed as well as iron from meats (heme), so it is important for vegetarians to eat more iron-rich foods to meet their requirements. Vegetarian iron sources include beans, leafy green vegetables, banana, brown rice, sprouts, seeds (sesame, sunflower and pumpkin), mushrooms, and iron-fortified grain products.




Visit Sunshine Sara For Vitamin D Info 

 Try One of Uncle Ray's Vegetarian Recipes

Check Out Raw Food Rehad, Great Site !



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Environmental group calls on Obama to support clean energy

 Ahead of President Barack Obama's third visit to oil-hit Louisiana, the head of the oldest US environmental group called Thursday for him to develop the coastal industry into a hub for sustainable energy.

"We stand in support of the 35,000 oil and gas workers in Louisiana who are trying feed their families," Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, told AFP. "It's not the fault of the workforce that America has become dependent on dirty sources of energy," he said.

As crude from a sunken BP-leased oil rig continued to devastate the Gulf's fragile wetlands, Brune urged Obama to redirect 10 billion dollars in annual federal incentives from oil and gas interests to developing a new energy economy based on wind, solar, and geothermal power, among other alternative sources.

"Places like Venice and the Gulf of Mexico... areas that have been the backbone of the industrialized fossil fuel-based economy, need to be the first places where we create a clean energy economy," Brune said.

"Knowing that we're not going to end all oil drilling tomorrow... we have the opportunity to aggressively phase in clean energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal (power)," he said.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal pointed out earlier this week that a prolonged moratorium on offshore drilling championed by Obama would threaten thousands of jobs in the state.

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Obama & Jan Brewer Meeting About Arizona Immigration Law In The White House

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) said Thursday that President Obama assured her that he would send White House staff members to her state to talk with officials about efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
The governor said her meeting with Obama in the Oval Office was cordial, despite their disagreement over the widely criticized state law she signed in April, which gave police greater powers to enforce federal immigration laws.
She said Obama declined to discuss whether the Justice Department plans to file a lawsuit to block the law before it takes effect next month.
The White House said in a statement that the meeting went well but that Obama reiterated his concerns about the law, including that a patchwork of state immigration regulations would complicate the federal government's role in setting and enforcing immigration policy. The White House said Obama would like Brewer to work with him to help pass comprehensive changes to the immigration system that would provide a path to citizenship for those already in the country illegally.

Emerging from the half-hour session, Brewer said Obama had assured her that the majority of the 1,200 National Guard troops he is sending to the U.S.-Mexico border would be going to her state.


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Grocery Store Wars, Check Out This Video

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Latest News in Green Building

The Philippines has received its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification for semiconductor maker Texas Instruments Inc.’s new assembly and test facility in Pampanga.
The 780,000-square-foot Green facility is located on the former United States of America Clark Air Base. The facility is the company’s first site to install a section of vegetative roofing, covering 11,000 square feet with living plants to reduce heat gain and slow water runoff.
The facility also uses natural day lighting where possible and efficient lights equipped with sensors and controls to balance the building’s lighting needs.
Texas Instruments operates a desiccant wheel air handling unit at the facility to provide dehumidified fresh air for more efficient cooling. The desiccant wheel absorbs the remaining moisture brought by traditional chilled water cooling, and is then dried and regenerated through waste heat.
The company also sourced 20 percent of the building materials used from recycled content, and recycled and reused 96 percent of its construction waste. This included donating a truckload of waste crating material to the Philippines National Apiary project, which turned the wood into working beehives for honey production.
In addition, the Clark facility features low-emitting materials such as paints, adhesives, sealants and carpeting to reduce off-gassing while providing better indoor air quality.




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MassDOT Creating A Clean Energy Economy for Massachusetts

The Patrick administration today said it is remaking the state Department of Transportation into one of the most green-focused in the nation, a plan they are calling "GreenDOT."

“By making this commitment, MassDOT has declared its contribution to creating a clean energy economy for Massachusetts,” Governor Deval Patrick said in a statement. “In the coming years, we will see the results in smarter growth, cleaner vehicles, and jobs devoted to building a lower carbon transportation system.”
According to the administration, the major change will be in the department's value system – GreenDOT will look for ways to cut greenhouse gases, boost the search for "healthy transportation options'' and push "smart growth'' where economic development is concentrated around mass transit systems.

The administration said the greenhouse gases would be cut over the next several years by "balancing highway system expansion projects with other projects that support smart growth development and promote public transit, walking and bicycling.''

In the future, for example, streets would be designed to include bicycle and pedestrian accommodations as they are built, avoiding the sometimes costly effort to retrofit narrow streets and roads to allow motor vehicles and other modes of transportation to safely coexist.

 

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