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A Study on Strategies-Based Reading Instruction at College Level
The aim of the study is to find out (a) if a strategies-based teaching approach to teaching reading will improve reading comprehension. (b) if the reading strategies used interact with the level of English proficiency of the students.
The study investigates, with a questionnaire at the beginning of the experiment, the perceptions of college students in China in reading English. The experiment was carried out during a course, which was conducted under a 16-week period semester. The statistical analysis of a survey test on the effect of a strategic reading instruction indicates that strategies-based reading instruction aids in reading comprehension. The questionnaire for the experiment group after the survey test proves an improvement in students' reading attitude and proficiency. The result is of some help in choosing teaching materials and methods for the improvement and efficiency of teaching reading.
Key words: Reading strategies; Reading comprehension; Language proficiency; Teaching Approach
Full Text:PDF HTML indexed/included/archived
Nation I. S. P. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing. New York: Routledge.
Williams, K. A. (1999). The Balanced Reading Program. Newark, Delaware: IRA.
Windowson, H. G. (1998). Aspects of Language Teaching. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education And Research Press.
ZHANG, Bo (2006). Perspective for Teaching Reading in a College English Classroom. Sino-US English Teaching, (3), 31-36.
ZHANG, L. (2001). Awareness in Reading: EFL Students' Metacognitive Knowledge of Reading Strategies in an Acquisition-Poor Environment. Language Awareness, (4), 268-88.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968%2Fj.sll.1923156320120403.3650
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Find a hostel in Pakistan and save money on discount lodging. Hosteling in Pakistan offers a different travel experience than staying at traditional accommodations. Youth hostels allow you to meet new people and learn from other international and worldly travelers. Most hostels are conveniently located in the center of the action close to public transportation, including buses and rails. Staying at a hostel in Pakistan is a great option whether you are backpacking or traveling on a budget . Browse our hostels and plan your Pakistan vacation today!
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Youth Hostels Pakistan, Pakistan - New Cape Grace Guest House in Islamabad, a House of Comfort, conveniently located in Sector F-6,
Youth Hostels Pakistan, Pakistan - Aspen Lodge is a nice guesthouse providing facilities of a home.
Youth Hostels Pakistan, Pakistan - RooMs IslamabaD *** Executive Accommodation for Individuals Best Guest House Islamabad
Youth Hostels Pakistan, Pakistan - We welcome our distinguished guests arriving from across Pakistan and the rest of the world
Youth Hostels Pakistan, Pakistan - Situated in the heart of Islamabad, minutes from the main business center of Islamabad, this contemporary yet comfortable central Islamabad Guest House will serve as your gateway to the capital's best.
Youth Hostels Pakistan, Pakistan - Please stay with wonderful Backpackers with clean rooms and very friendly staff with a laid back atmosphere.
Hotels & Resorts Islamabad, Pakistan - INDUS LODGE guest house located in the vicinity of popular Jannah Super Market and few minute drive from embassies and blue area (business District) with the 4 star accommodation features.
Hotels & Resorts Islamabad, Pakistan - We have been trusted for providing safe, comfortable and prestigious temporary residence for overseas/local families and individuals, Companies, Groups, Forigners in the most beautiful & family oriented World Choice Elegant Guest House Islamabad
Bed & Breakfasts Bangladesh, Pakistan - The Trango Towers: situated on the northern side of the Baltoro Glacier opposite Urdukas, consist of four peaks with vertical granite walls. Great Trango (6287m) was first climbed on July 21, 1977, by the Americans Galen Rowell, John Roskelly, Kim
Bed & Breakfasts Pakistan, Pakistan - NewCapeGrace Guest House, Hotels in Islamabad Pakistan, offers quality comfort & premium amenities at affordable prices.Services comparable to four star hotels in Islamabad Pakistan, it has acheived #1 rank at TripAdvisor with numerous Facebook fans.

subset: commoncrawl


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Thorogood has been building high quality work boots for over 100 years and the 6-inch Moc Toe Wedge Sole Safety Toe Work boots hold the tradition well. Made in the USA and built on broad wedge outsoles, these Thorogood Steel Toe boots support and cushion every step you take. The wedge outsoles are a must have for ironworkers and provide maximum surface contact, increasing traction on flat surfaces but this boot has a lot more to offer too!
The Thorogood Steel Toe 6-inch Wedge Sole Work boots are made with high quality materials and durable construction. Made with a unique moccasin toe design, this American made work boot offers a wider toe box for a more comfortable fit. The tobacco brown oil tanned leather upper is attached to the slip and oil resistant Thorogood MAXwear Wedge sole with tough Goodyear Storm Welt construction. A leather upper means a more durable boot that looks great and lasts longer. This exterior is flexible but still creates a strong fit around your feet. Inside the Thorogood Wedge work boot is sure to keep your feet happy thanks to the ultimate shock absorption footbeds and comfort cushions. These work boots also have shock absorbing rubber midsoles and lightweight composite shanks that provide support without adding weight. For maximum protection, these 6-inch Thorogood boots are built with a strong steel toe. This super durable Steel toe is ASTM rated and has an electrical hazard resistance of up to 18,000 volts!
Its time you get a pair of boots ready to work as hard as you do. Go ahead and order the Thorogood 6-inch Moc Toe Wedge Steel Toe Work Boots online today!
Harry's Army Surplus: Serving Dearborn and Metropolitan Detroit with army navy surplus, uniform gear, boots, army surplus and work clothing since 1950.


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Valentine's Day can be a touchy subject, especially if you're in a relationship. What is it about this day that has everyone loving it, or downright hating it?! Adrienne C. Laursen, LMFT, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and owner of The Engagement Coach, gives tips for having a successful Valentine's Day, even if you're one of the skeptical ones.
This is especially difficult when one partner believes in celebrating Valentine's Day, and the other partner is dead-set against it. Relationships are all about compromise, and this day is no exception. How can you celebrate this lover's holiday so you'll both feel comfortable and appreciated? Be sure to discuss expectations for gifts, spending limits, etc. and then actually put some thought into it. A little effort can go a really long way and hey, it's only ONE day out of the year!
It is NEVER a good idea to test your partner; to see if he/she will remember Valentine's Day (or your anniversary, birthday, etc.) and what you'll get out of it. Tricking your partner will never be a good way to gauge whether or not you are truly loved! It's really important to discuss your expectations so that your partner isn't set up for failure and you aren't set up for a very unhappy Valentine's Day! If you want something, be sure he knows what you want and expect, and also why it's so important to you.
Most of the time, one partner decides that Valentine's Day is a waste of time and money, while the other feels neglected and left out of this special day. Anti-Valentine partners typically say things like "it's just an excuse for Hallmark to make money" to avoid making an effort. If you're against this holiday, really think about what you're saying and what that means to your relationship. While Hallmark does sell Valentine's cards, they also sell Mother's Day cards, Father's Day cards, etc. Do you not celebrate those holidays based on this same principle? Valentine's Day is really about showing someone you love them… it's as simple as that. If you're completely resistant to showing your partner you care, there may be a bigger issue at hand.
Write each other a love letter, make breakfast in bed, plan a romantic dinner at home or arrange for a carpet picnic with your favorite movie. You can make a lot of effort without spending any money. If you've got money to spend, and a little time, plan ahead and schedule something for the weekend. Some ideas: A couples' massage, cooking class, wine tasting or day at the spa together. The possibilities are endless!
For more information on Adrienne's counseling services and free relationship tips, please visit her website at www.TheEngagementCoach.com.


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by Marin
Wobbly from the Marin collection features small, wonky painted circles and dots, and coordinates with the rest of the Marin designs.
The Marin collection is made from 100% organic cotton and printed with AZO-free dyes. Fabric is 42-44" in width.
All prints are designed and manufactured by Monaluna.
The fabric is not treated with fire-retardant, and is therefore not intended for use in children's sleepwear.
Fabric may be purchased by the yard or half-yard (.5).


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Bizarre: FFII award for OOXML opponents goes to Microsoft
The Kayak Prize 2007, awarded by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) for the most effective campaign against Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML) as a standard, went to Microsoft itself.
Microsoft had submitted its internal OOXML format in December 2006 for ISO standardization. The non-profit organization FFII declared the event a "war of formats". The foundation spearheaded the anti-OOXML lobby and took a stand with its own "NoOOXML" website. As a part of the publicity campaign FFII offered an award for the best campaign leader in the fight against the Microsoft format. Now the FFII has given the prize to its opponent, Microsoft, stating that the company had played the biggest part in ensuring that the ISO vote went against Microsoft because it failed to achieve a majority in the first round of voting.
The statement by FFII President Peter Hintjes isn't exactly flattering: "By pushing so hard to get OOXML endorsed, even to the point of loading the standards boards in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, and beyond, Microsoft showed to the world how poor their format is. Good standards just don't need that kind of pressure." He continued, "All together, countries made over ten thousands technical comments, a new world record for an ISO vote. Microsoft made a heroic — and costly — effort to discredit their own proposal, and we're sincerely grateful to them." The foundation explains that its own activities were far cheaper; in fact, the Noooxml.org domain cost them just twelve euros. If Microsoft doesn't want to collect the prize of 2500 euros, minus the twelve for the domain, at the awards ceremony, the money will go to earthquake relief in Peru.
In February 2008, the results of the first vote will be discussed by the ISO committee, and Microsoft will have a chance to improve its document format. Mario Wendt, Interoperability Architect with Microsoft, speaking in an interview with Linux Magazine, said that he was optimistic, and that suggestions by ISO members on the Microsoft format will lead to success in the long-term: "We are confident that we will be able to integrate them with the standard to the satisfaction of our customers and competitors". In contrast to Microsoft, FFII does not believe that the Redmond standard will make the grade: " We think they (Microsoft) will make cosmetic fixes and then push all the harder. It's exactly the worst approach and will alienate many governments, possibly spelling the end of their global office monopoly."
Issue 168/2014
Tag Cloud
Fedora Developer Announces New Partition Manager
New tool will look like GParted but support a wider range of storage technologies.
Mozilla Releases a New Firefox
New public key pinning feature will help prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Tool Predicts Which Websites Will be Compromised
Carnegie Mellon researchers say 3 million pages could fall down the phishing hole in the next year.
SSH Key Management Guidelines
The US government rolls new best-practice rules for protecting SSH.
Knoppix 7.4 Released
Klaus Knopper announces the latest version of his iconic Live Linux system.
PHP Attack Puts WordPress and Drupal at Risk
All websites that use these popular CMS tools could be vulnerable to denial of service attacks if users don't install the updates.
Heartbleed Bleeds On
According to a report, many potential victims of the Heartbleed attack have patched their systems, but few have cleaned up the crime scene to protect themselves from the effects of a previous intrusion.
Drone Brain Goes Open Source
DARPA and NICTA release the code for the ultra-secure microkernel system used in aerial drones.
Password Management Services Vulnerable to Attack
Should you trust an online service to store your online passwords?
New Raspberry Pi Adds Two USB Ports
New B+ board lets you build cool things without the complication of a powered USB hub.


text: The Milwaukee Brewers got home runs from Nori Aoki and Jeff Bianchi in beating the Marlins in Miami Tuesday night 8-4. Aoki hit a two run shot in the second that gave Shaun Marcum a 3-0 lead. The righthander couldn't hold it however, serving up long home runs to Giancarlo Stanton, his 30th of the season and Gorkys Hernandez, the first of his career making it 4-3 Miami. Aoki came through again in the 7th with an RBI double that broke a 4-4 tie and Bianchi launched a three run shot in the 8th that put the game away. Kameron Loe needed only two pitches to record the victory in relief of Marcum. John Axford worked the ninth for his 24th save. Ryan Braun had two RBI's giving him a National League leading 98 on the year. Milwaukee (66-69) will send young pitcher Johnny Peralta to the mound in game three of the series Wednesday night.


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Sorry I didn't get to post the winner the last couple of days it's been a bit hectic around here.
What with Hubby going back to work in London after a week working in Huntingdon and Jack going back to school today after being off for 2 weeks.
Now Jack is panicking about when his volcano has to be in, did any of you make one when you were at school?
Hubby and I didn't and until last year I always thought is was an American thing.
I have to admit that I love playing with papier mache, in the past it have tried to get Jack to make pinatas so we could use it but he was never really bothered.
Although he does like the made ones you can buy in the shops.
I have really had to try hard not to do the odd bit whilst Jack's been in bed or today whilst he was back at school, I'm so sad ;P
I will post a photo when it's finished.
OK back to the winner.
Guys do any of you know how you get the Random Number Generator to print as a little box?
I can make them work but below is the best I could manage to put on the blog.
Sorry side tracked again, drum roll please:-
True Random Number Generator14 Powered by RANDOM.ORG
So the winner is number 14 which is Angelina, in Australia same as Nova. Cool.
If you email me Angelina I will pass on your details to Love all you knitting by the way :)
Hopefully I will be back at the end of the week with some photo's of what I've been up to since Christmas.
Bye for now,


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great guy fighting Monsanto (the devil):
Yeah we hate Monsanto to the bone , they supplied lots of the chemicals that were used in the American war ( the war on the people of Vietnam ) which was a successful war for all the corporations that made a killing er sorry profit on that one . Vietnam is the template for all modern wars all the dubious propaganda and warfare experiments have been replicated since. Now Monsanto want to own the food supply of the world ; the evil scientists of marvel comics look compassionate in comparison . Just changing the subject but here in Australia we've just had a coup with a conservative government on the verge of power. Anyways we love your kcaa show and cherish our Roseanne dvd's (the only tv show ever that was able to portray children sanely , and not revert to them as disneylike inane ventriloquist dolls). And we're sick of the CIA determining our drug policy direction.
Yay !


text:
The Conventions CEPA Programme
West Indian Teachers' Resource Book
Wondrous West Indian Wetlands: Teachers' Resource Book
Using the West Indian Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna arborea) as a flagship species, the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds has developed a 276-page Wondrous West Indian Wetlands Teachers' Resource Book to be used throughout the Caribbean. Working with many local partners across the Caribbean they have developed wetlands education workshops, targeted at teachers and educators in environmental NGOs as well as government agencies, that provide training and educational tools to raise awareness of and appreciation for the values of local wetlands.
The resource book, containing comprehensive background information and educational activities relating to the ecology and conservation of Caribbean wetlands, is distributed in conjunction with the workshops. During 2004 a total of 554 teachers attended one of 20 such training workshops held in seven countries across the Caribbean including Anguilla, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Society has noted that responses on evaluations, including a "before and after" wetland quiz, have shown that the workshops are highly effective in changing attitudes and perceptions about wetlands and that participants leave the workshops with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to teach and inspire others. They identify several factors that have contributed to the success of the training project, including strong leadership, thousands of hours of donated work by many creative and committed individuals, successful fundraising, use of a flagship species, local empowerment, political involvement, and the regional nature of the project.
|From the Resource Book: some of the learning objectives for Chapter 3
|From the Resource Book: an activity sheet focused on learning about the components of a habitat
Companion materials to the resource book include a slide show, puppet show, poster, colouring book, conservation buttons, postcard, field trip notebook, and a duck identification card for hunters. The Society also promotes the development of Watchable Wildlife Ponds, accessible wetlands which are managed for interpretation to schoolchildren, local residents, and eco-tourists.
For more information on the Society's activities look here for more information on the workshops and the resource book, please contact Lisa Sorensen directly by email firstname.lastname@example.com.


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When Egbert Neuhaus visited the U.S. as a German exchange student in the '70s, he came across an aluminium household rubbish bin—and fell in love. He brought the idea home to Wesco, his father's metal manufacturing company in Germany, which got to work redesigning the device. The distinctive, industrial-strength result inspired an entire family of products, including this Toilet Brush. The tool's stainless steel cap and handle contrast with its powder-coated steel body, which sits atop a plastic ring to prevent scratching to the bathroom floor.
Removable plastic liner.
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text:
Tales of Vesperia for Xbox 360
A NEW GENERATION OF TALES UNFOLDS! A power struggle begins in a civilization dependant on an ancient technology, the blastia, and the Empire that controls it. The fates of two friends traveling separate paths intertwine in an epic adventure that threatens the existence of all. Tales of Vesperia marks the first Tales RPG release in HD with detail and graphics never before seen in the series. Now, real-time battles are more exciting than ever with over limits, the ability to unleash fatal strikes, combinations and burst artes. The next evolution of the revered role-playing series comes to the Xbox 360
See All ImagesTales of Vesperia Images
See All NewsTales of Vesperia News
Producer Hideo Baba answers fans' questions about the Tales series
Producer Hideo Baba discusses his work on the Tales games
15th Anniversary "Tales of..." Title Set for Release on the PS3 Next Year
Namco Bandia has announced the latest entry in the "Tales of" series. Tales of Xillia will be released in 2011 on the PlayStation 3 to coincide with
Namco Bandai CEO: "Selling Full Games is No Good"
There's something brewing in the water over at Namco Bandai that's got to be worrisome for gamers everywhere. After the head of sales, Oliver Comte,
What's a Fair Price for the Games You Love?
At the recent Level Up conference in Barcelona, Spain, Oliver Comte, Vice President and Head of Sales and Marketing at Namco Bandai Partners made the


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Check out the Pat Healy Perfect Long Mix™
Hello reader,
Please read the paragraph after this the way a host might on an infomercial for a musical collection that is only available if you act now! Here is a good point of reference if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
Have you ever liked one part of a song so much that you wish it could go on forever? Well, now it can!
OK, so did you read it in that voice? Perfect.
Anyway, ever since I began doing the Podcast two years ago, I've been getting more proficient in audio editing programs and looping portions of songs to play under the interviews. Granted, I still have a lot to learn, but I feel I've mastered it enough to give this endeavor you're about to listen to a shot. Because I actually did like several parts of songs that I wished could go on forever, but when I'd download extended remixes there was a whole bunch of other crap in there that I was not too psyched about. This is why I developed what I call the Pat Healy Perfect Long Mix™
It's basically the regular song you've come to know, but with the cool part that goes on and on and on and on, and then it eventually comes back to the song itself.
If you think this sounds like it's no big to-do, you are totally wrong! That was also supposed to be read in that announcer voice. I should have given you more of a heads up there. Sorry. Anyway, the effect that each Pat Healy Perfect Long Mix™ has is different for each song. Sometimes it's grating, other times the repetition establishes an entirely original groove on its own that you wouldn't expect. And in some instances, you get lulled into forgetting that there's even anything amiss.
Oh man, I'm so sorry to have kept you here without giving you any of the goods. Don't worry, there's no three easy payments of $9.99. It's totally free. Why don't you click below and get started while you're reading the rest of this.
Do you get why that photo is there? It's the "Me love you long time" scene from "Full Metal Jacket." And [assume announcer voice again] The songs that have been given the Pat Healy Perfect Long Mix™ treatment will indeed love you long time!
They're great for a work-out at the gym, when you hit a good stride and you want to keep it going. They're great for freaking out your stoner friends. They're great for aspiring reggae-style toasting and wedding DJ announcement interludes. Basically, the idea of the Pat Healy Perfect Long Mix™ is just all-around great!
If it's streaming too slowly, just subscribe to the Metro Monthly Music Podcast on iTunes, and look for the entry called, "A Perfect Long Mix of Perfect Long Mixes."
Enjoy responsibly and enjoy often! Here are the songs that are on the PHPLM®! I do have other songs that I have extended, but these 10 seemed to fit really well for the first installment. You may say, "Wait, how can you possibly think that a Wings song fits really well with a Bad Brains song?!" To you I simply say, in the universe of the PHPLM® all songs can fit together as long as they are awesome!
If you see what I've done as hubris, it was all done with the best intentions of exploring those cool parts of the songs in more depth. Also, you still use the word hubris? What is this, Greek mythology?
1) "Kids" by MGMT
2) "You Dropped a Bomb On Me" by the Gap Band
3) "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
4) "Wake Up" by the Arcade Fire
5) "Touch Me" by the Doors
6) "Late in the Evening" by Paul Simon
7) "Silly Love Songs" by Wings
8) "Hang on Sloopy" by the McCoys
9) "You Can Make It If You Try" by Sly and the Family Stone
10) "Sailin' On" by Bad Brains


text:
The Old Man at Burning Man"
It's something we've all been meaning to do. The father-son bonding adventure. You know: The big fishing excursion, The road trip down Route 66. Last year, Wells Tower took a completely different approach with his dad: Burning Man, the world's largest chemically enhanced self-expression festival.
Does Mitt Romney Have a Soul?"
They say Mitt Romney is a robot. They say he is an unusually handsome cyborg. They say if you opened up his chest, you'd see a pile of crackling circuitry or maybe a bale of old straw. And as we prepare (finally!) to crown him the Republican nominee in Tampa, Florida, this month, there is but one real question on everyone's mind: Is there anything behind the mask? Wells Tower spends five months on the campaign trail in search of the man inside the man who would be president.
My Kushy New Job"
With pot laws changing, we thought it'd be a good idea to send our weed-averse correspondent to see what life is really like in Amsterdam, the world's cannabis capital. He took a job at a marijuana coffee shop, inhaled the best stuff on earth, and saw the totally righteous future of legalized ganja.


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Fandi's Darul Takzim side is in action tonight for the very 1st time
®Copyright MediaCorp
Fandi and his sons
In NBA Basketball news,
The Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 93-76 in a Christmas Day fixture.
Playing away this morning, Rajon Rondo scored 19 points and contributed 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the Celtics.
With the win, the Celtics and the Nets now share 2nd place in the Atlantic Division behind the New York Knicks.
Brooklyn who lost for the 4th time in 5 games, were without power forward Kris Humphries, who is suffering from an abdominal strain.
Onto local football news,
S-league club Woodlands Wellington will face Fandi Ahmad and his Darul Takzim side tonight, in a friendly match at the Larkin Stadium in Johor.
The Woodlands Rams finished at the bottom of the S-league in 2012, for the 3rd year in a row.
And today will be the 1st time, fans will get to see THE most expensive squad in Malaysia's football history, in action.
That's after recently securing the signings of former Spanish international Dani Guiza, Italian midfielder Simone Del Nero and Malaysian internationals, Safee Sali, Safiq Rahim, and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.
Tonight's match is part of a quadrangular which also involves Pahang and Johor FA.
In regional football news,
This year's Malaysian side Harimau Muda in the S-league will not return in 2013.
Instead of the Under-23 squad, the Harimau Muda 'B' side comprising Under-21 players will compete here next season.
The B squad last competed in this year's Malaysian Premier League.
As for the Under-23s, they will reportedly head to Australia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, in order to prepare for next December's SEA Games in Myanmar.
Malaysia are the defending Gold medallists in the under-23 football competition.
Onto cricket action,
Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and sent his team in to bat first, in the 2nd test against Australia this morning.
For the clash in Melbourne, Sri Lanka made 1 change to the lineup that lost the first test in Hobart.
That's by switching seamer Nuwan Kulasekara with Dhammika Prasad.
Sri Lanka will look to their batsmen to build a big score in their first Boxing Day test in 17 years at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The visitors are bidding for their first test win in Australia in the 3-match series, which concludes with next week's 3rd and final test in Sydney.


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Sales are down and fees are up this year. Here are some tips on how to find the best deals.
This Deal of the Day comes from Kelli B. Grant at partner site SmartMoney.
Travelers hunting for airfare deals have their work cut out for them this year.
With more consumers scheduling vacations and airline scheduling cutbacks, the supply-demand equation has swung back in the airlines' favor, says Tom Parsons, the founder of BestFares.com. Fares are slightly higher across the board -- last year's $49 sale is $69 this year, for example -- with substantial increases on select routes, he says.
Sales are still out there, but on many, either the deals aren't as favorable or there are more restrictions on eligible days. "This summer, you're just going to have to poke around," he says.
Part of the equation: fees, which have continued creeping up.
Don't serve too much at a time, don't put foods they don't want on their plate, and don't fear the sippy cup.
This post comes from Carrie Kirby at partner blog Wise Bread.
I don't know about your kids, but mine just will not eat kibble. At least not the generic kind. Which means I have to shell out for pricey people food like vegetables, fruit and milk.
To be honest, I'm a better mom than I let on -- I even shell out for organic stuff for my three tykes. But then, so much of that pristine, chemical-free food ends up on the floor or being scraped into the garbage disposal that I wonder why I bothered.
Here are the guidelines we use at our house to try to cut the waste-to-consumption ratio when feeding the kids.
Divorce lawyers are finding a treasure trove of information on social-networking sites. Here's what not to share.
If we've said it once, we've said it a hundred (OK, maybe three or four) times: Don't put stuff on Facebook or any other social-networking site that can come back to bite you.
The latest proof of how damaging this can be: An Associated Press story related how divorce attorneys are routinely looking for incriminating stuff on social-networking sites, and they're finding lots of it -- most often on Facebook.
'Luxury squatters' take over vacant houses and declare themselves owners. In Seattle, one family moved into a $3.3 million place.
For years, the 8,000-square-foot mansion in suburban Seattle sat vacant and for sale, the price gradually coming down from $5.8 million to $3.3 million. One day in June, a 30-year-old woman, a man and two children took down the for-sale signs, changed the locks, moved in and declared it their home.
They didn't actually buy the house, or even rent it. They just moved in and declared it their house.
Jill Lane, who was arrested on a charge of trespassing after two weeks in the house, is not contrite, The Seattle Times' Danny Westneat reports. Not only did she try to take over the mansion, with its wine cellar, home theater, six bedrooms and nine baths, she has staked a claim to 10 other bank-owned houses in the Seattle area.
"Banks do whatever they want and nobody holds them accountable," Lane told Westneat by phone from Disneyland, where she went on vacation after she was released by the police. She and her partner ran a company that pledged to "eliminate mortgages" and help others move into empty foreclosed homes.
A traveler's journey through the endless fees imposed by airlines, hotels, cell phone companies, etc. Is there no end to this assault?
This guest post comes from Cap at StopBuyingCrap.com.
A trip from San Diego to Indianapolis.
As you're about to book your flight, you stare at the computer screen, wondering what's the best choice.
You quickly searched Southwest, but the timetable and seats available just didn't match up to the meeting's schedule.
You could fly American, as you actually managed to store up some mileage through the years. Despite the fact that you prefer other airlines, you've stuck with American, because loyalty's gotta mean something, right?
With a quick check, those mileage are currently meaningless as there are no reward seats available to claim.
The problem is that you're now running on a much tighter budget. Ever since the recession, business hasn't been going so well, and you can barely afford this trip out to the Midwest. But you have to get to Indianapolis, as sealing this deal ensures your business' survival and that of its six lifelong employees.
When it comes to formal attire, men are more likely to rent than own, while women are the opposite. Both sexes have it wrong.
This post comes from Stacy Johnson at partner site Money Talks News.
There are occasions in life when the right clothing is crucial. While both men and women need special clothes for special occasions, there's no law that says you have to own those clothes outright.
- Bing:Get married for less
But when it comes to renting, I believe the sexes have it backward.
A lot of people are going to college unnecessarily -- or for the wrong reasons. For many, there are strong arguments against college.
This Devil's Advocate post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.
When I was younger, the plan for my future was pretty straightforward. You go to high school to learn, get good grades, and get into a good college. You go to college to get good grades and then get a good job. After that, just circle the mouse wheel until retirement.
- Calculator: Are you saving enough for college?
OK, that last part about the wheel was my own addition, but that basically was my "job" as a kid. That plan worked for me, and it's the path many people have walked with great success. But it's not the only path.
With the government looking at additional regulation of for-profit colleges, I started to wonder again whether college is "worth it."
About 180,000 would-be buyers won't meet the June 30 deadline for a tax credit. But some may end up with a better deal.
If you've ever bought a house, you know how nerve-racking it can be to try to close the deal by the contract deadline.
Sometimes you do. Often you don't. There are problems with the inspection, or with the appraisal, or with the insurance, or the lender wants more documents. Or there are delays that don't seem to have any explanation.
Usually all it costs you is a few sleepless nights and some extra paperwork. But for first-time homebuyers who expected to get a federal tax credit, failing to close on time will cost them up to $8,000. Those who don't close by June 30 don't get the credit.
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In this scheme, scammers are asking for lots of personal information by posing as government officials.
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A charcuterie master shares his process for cold-smoking meat at home.
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Dear kind readers,
Green LA girl is coming to an end.
That is, the blog green LA girl is no longer going to be updated. The woman you might refer to as green LA girl — that would be me, Siel — will continue on living.
You've probably noticed that since about the middle of last year, the pace and energy of green LA girl has slowed quite a bit. During that time I switched careers from freelance writing to teaching, moved back to Santa Monica, and focused more on my creative writing — the stuff I neglected after getting my PhD in 2008 (and a bit before that too).
I've really enjoyed blogging here the last 6+ years, but my interests are — drifting. And to pursue those new interests, I have to let go of old ones.
Thanks to Nisha, April, and Sarah, who've helped keep this blog afloat the last few months. Thanks to everyone who came to the Blogger Beach Cleanup, green beauty party, and other green LA girl events. And thanks to all of you readers for your engagement and encouragement over the years.
For the time being, green LA girl will stay online. I may still occasionally update this blog with personal updates, but more likely, I'll develop my new personal website that focuses more on my new interests. That site's still very bare bones, but you can find it at sielju.com.
I hope you'll keep in touch.
I met Heidi after the Grammy Greening Summit, where she excitedly talked to me about her new food company, Luko Foods, which she founded 9 months ago with best friend Nikki. Yes, a new food baby has been brought into the world and it's delicious! :) Heidi's contribution to Luko Foods is her fresh salsas, the thought of which leave my mouth watering at the thought of how fresh they are (made with ingredients from local farms, so the ingredients are extra fresh!).
Nikki's contribution is a line of jams, including Orange Ginger Marmalade, Fig Balsamic (which is being served on the menu of Malibu Golf Club restaurant Malibu and Vines), Blueberry Lemon Lavender, and Strawberry heat (a spicy strawberry jam!).
Both of these former advertising professionals left their jobs, feeling disenchanted with having to conduct analyses of the marketing statistics of iPods and to design plans for pushing Dr. Pepper sodas into schools.
One day while discussing future plans, Nikki told Heidi that she was interested in selling jams she had been creating at a farmer's market. Prior to this moment, Heidi had won 1st place in the 30th anniversary celebration of Los Angeles farmer's markets for her salsa, which at the time was called 'The Loco Local by Luko' (her last name at the time, and the origin of the Luko Foods name brand). In that moment, they both saw an opportunity presenting itself to create an independent business, selling fresh, artisan, hand-crafted foods to the Los Angeles community.
Most of the ingredients in Luko Foods are locally grown –- They are building relationships with Los Angeles based food growers from who they get many (if not most) of the ingredients in their jams and salsas. Luko Foods currently sources their food from two farms – South Central Farmers and Marina Farms.
I asked if they are completely local and organic, and Nikki said that they are not yet so, since it is difficult to find local or organic makers of some of their ingredients, such as port wine for the Fig Balsamic spread. They also use spices in their foods, some of which have uncertain origins. They emphasized, however, that they are very open to learning, exploring options, and constantly improving the deliciousness, quality, and organic and local nature of their products.
We also had a conversation about their containers, which are printed with gorgeous, artistic labels. They told me that they have friends who have designed the art for their labels, which made them pause to reflect on all the support and input they have had from their community of friends and family. Nikki's jams are packaged in glass jars, for which there is a bottle return policy: return your empty jar and get $1 back.
Heidi is currently packaging her salsas in plastic containers, because she wants to sell fresh salsa, which she wouldn't be able to do if she packaged it in the Mason jars (you have to put the jars with its contents in boiling water to vacuum seal them). She said that she is interested in alternatives to plastic, but has not been able to find any thus far. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to comment on this article, or to connect directly with Luko Foods on their Facebook page.
When it comes down to it, I probably have three favorite facts about Luko Foods. Firstly, Heidi's recipe is a modified version of her mother's salsa recipe. This just made me happy, since I learned to cook fresh from my mother too. :) Secondly, Nikki's jams are LOW SUGAR! Nikki told me that she compared her recipes to others online and realized she uses about half of the sugar called for by the standard jam recipe.
You can clearly taste the unique flavor of each of the fruits in her jams, which are very delicate and vibrant, since they are not weighed down by syrupy sweetness. She designs her recipes to let the fruit speak for itself. She made the point that people enjoy fresh oranges and blueberries plain –- they don't dump spoonfuls of sugar on top, so there is no reason to do so in jam making. Her jams are very light and flavorful, without the heavy syrupy texture of others jams/marmalades I have tried.
My third favorite fact is one about which we had a huge conversation -– Luko Foods feels passionately about their products not just as a business, but as a way to power forward, invest in, dialogue about and support the food movement. As I mentioned in my Grammy Greening Summit article (and this is a point of discussion I shared with Heidi and Nikki), food is a central part of the green movement. If we are going to change our society to live more sustainably with the planet, we MUST change our eating methods and habits. Heidi and Nikki both emphatically stated how happy they are to be supporting and investing their time and energy into creation of fresh, local foods as an alternative to the corporate takeover of our food system.
Heidi and Nikki recently joined me in my home for a Luko Foods tasting, leaving me with full containers of all of their current products. :) I say current, because they work with seasonal foods, experimenting with new ingredients as they present themselves throughout the year, such as Heidi's summertime Peach Piñata and seasonal blood orange salsa. They both agreed that it is more important to them to get ripe, fresh, seasonal ingredients than to get foods that have had a long shelf life, are out of season, genetically modified, or that have been shipped across the nation or world.
When they first came to my home for the tasting, I tried the jams and salsas on a whole-wheat sourdough bread I had made. I have since experimented with a few different recipes. I LOVE both the Blueberry Lemon Lavendar and Orange Ginger Marmalade on plain yoghurt (mmm… parfait!). I had made a cashew cream (plain yoghurt, raw cashews and a little coconut oil in a food processer), which paired deliciously with the Fig Balsamic. I was given a jar of their Bacon Maj (Maj = everything opposite of jam). I don't eat bacon, so I shared it with my students to give them a gourmet treat. I baked a raisin flatbread (1.5 cups sourdough starter, 1.5 cups whole-wheat flour, 1/2 cup raisins, sugar, salt and allspice/cinnamon, prepared and baked like a pizza crust), which I topped with honey cashew cream (cashew cream recipe above + honey and a little salt) and Bacon Maj. The kids loved it. :) I tried this combo with the Fig Balsamic, which was also delicious. I love the Strawberry Heat with a nice thick layer of pasture-raised butter on some of my homemade toast.
Nikki has some other recipes on her website that look delicious. Be sure to check them out. :)
If you want to meet these wonderful women in person, be sure to visit them on Sundays between 10am – 2 pm at the Melrose Place Farmer's Market in West Hollywood. They are there come rain or shine! You can also order online, including beautifully prepared gift-baskets. See below for links to their websites and Facebook page.
All photos by Nisha
Image via Blog Downtown
I have become very involved in food issues, having realized that food production, vending, consumption, and other food related issues including waste and human health are fundamentally related to environmental health.
As I mentioned in my Grammy Greening Summit article, local growers are uniting with raw foodists who are in turn forming food coops to provide things like raw milk. These efforts are being spawned by the exponentially growing number of people who have come to realize how enormously detrimental "conventional" farming is on human and environmental health, while also discovering the superior potential of responsible, sustainable, live agriculture to augment the Earth's ability to grow and regenerate, while still providing more than enough food for the world's peoples.
As many of you know, in the United States, purchasing an industrially farmed, processed and packaged food item containing ingredients shipped several times across the globe and requiring laboratory work (in the form of pesticides and genetically modified seeds) is often far cheaper than purchasing a locally grown carrot or tomato from the neighborhood farmer's market. Industrial agriculture is a primary contributor to global warming, behind automobile and factory exhaust, and highly processed foods resulting from the industrial agricultural process are a primary contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart problems and other illnesses. Over 80% of foods eaten by Americans contain genetically modified seeds, and the farming of soy is a primary contributor to the massive destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Food is traded as a commodity on stock exchanges, meaning that it is grown and sold to raise a profit for business people. Meanwhile, in the United States, we waste about enormous amounts of the food we produce.
In response, urban communities across the United States have started to grow their own food from organic and heirloom seed and have started to investigate these issues and how healthier alternatives can be created.
Siel has blogged extensively about the urban garden movement in Los Angeles (and related issues), including info about: signs of its growth; books, and more books; LA based environmental charter schools; yard sharing for those who don't have land; guerilla gardening; dirt and its importance to our lives; points of personal change and advocacy; etc.
I am dedicating the rest of this post to things you can do and organizations you can follow, join, or donate to in Los Angeles, working hard on these related issues.
1.) First, to have immediate access to gardening and planting related grants, talks, events, classes, etc., join UC Davis cooperative extension Master Gardener program manager Yvonne Savio's listserve (email ydsavio [at] ucdavis [dot] edu). Also, check out the UC Davis Extension webpage. If you want to learn urban vegetable gardening basics, sign up for the Victory Gardener program at a community garden near you (these classes take place ALL over the city).
2.) Check out the UC Davis list of LA based community gardens, or check the LA Community Garden Council website to find out where the community garden nearest you is located, and go volunteer there. You might be able to take home free veggies, fruits and herbs for your efforts.
3.) Subscribe to the Los Angeles Agriculture blog and LA Farm Girl.
4.) Check out the work of EnrichLA, an organization dedicated to putting a garden in every school in Los Angeles. They do GREAT work, so donate or volunteer at one of their sites if you can.
5.) Check out the trailer for the GMO Film (made by the creators of Dive! for which I posted the film trailer above), and donate to them if you can. They are working hard to create a film to raise awareness on the giant corporate takeover of the American food system, starting with the most ancient of human inheritances: seeds.
6.) Get involved with the campaigns to put an initiative on the upcoming November ballot to label GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Either donate to one of the two major campaigns (Labelgmos.org and Justlabelit.org). Labelgmos.org is doing a lot of work to recruit people to petition the public, so check their website for more info. Host a petitioning party and gather a bunch of signatures to put this issue on our ballot. Attend this Saturday's SLOLA meeting, where labelgmos.org will be present and handing out free seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom (see info at bottom of this post). We have the right to know what is in our food!
7.) Subscribe to my blog, Local to Global Life Works, to learn more about these issues and how actions and decisions local to Los Angeles are connected to global trends and have global impact. I host events, post about events, etc. to keep you in the loop.
8.) Check out, support, volunteer for or donate to the work of the Los Angeles branch of one of America's first peace and justice activism organizations, the American Friends Service Committee. One of the LA office's main projects is maintaining four urban gardens (called Friends Peace Gardens) at high risk Los Angeles high schools to combat gang violence and to create access and awareness about healthy eating and fresh foods.
9.) Check out, support, volunteer for or donate to work of TreePeople, who have been active in LA for decades, and the new project 100 Seeds of Change through the Social Justice Learning Project, trying to bring urban gardening to South Los Angeles food deserts.
10.) Check out, support, volunteer for, donate to, or become a member of SLOLA – the Seed Library of Los Angeles ($10 lifetime membership), and attend their weekly meetings at the Venice Learning Garden. If you live closer to downtown LA or Pasadena, do not fret, because SLOLA is creating an eastern library branch. Feel free to email me for more information on this (namorandovida [at] gmail [dot] com).
If you have some free time this Sat., Mar. 17, be sure to stop by the Venice SLOLA meeting, since they are discussing a subject close to my heart – crop plants plants native to the Americas and their historic/cultural importance, with resources on how to obtain and care for their seeds. Plus, LabelGMOs.org is also sponsoring a distribution of seeds — free to SLOLA members — from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. And at the close of the meeting, SLOLA's ever-expanding seed library will open again for check out.
If you've never attended a SLOLA meeting or have questions about seed saving, you're invited to come 15 minutes early for a "Seed Saving Basics" presentation.
Image via LA Farm Girl
If you want an organic meat burger — and you want it fast — stop by O! Burger in West Hollywood.
Yes, there are other options for eco-friendlier burgers in Los Angeles. Want a sumptuous, gourmet organic burger with a price tag to match? I recommend BLD. Willing to settle for "natural" instead of organic? Try Fresh East. Vegan? Head over to The Veggie Grill. Cool with carcinogens as long as they're veg? Boca Burgers are cheap. Don't give a shit about yourself or the planet? McDonald's still has many locations all over SoCal.
But if you want a fast food burger made organic, O! Burger is the place. Really in a hurry? Order it online and pick it up.
Though the grass fed organic beef burger's its raison d'etre, O! Burger has organic turkey burgers too and does offer a veggie burger — though I have to say the house veg burger isn't the tastiest veg burger I've come across. The deal is healthy though, with a medley of spinach, corn, carrots, and peas — all under crisp cucumber slices.
But really, this place is great for your occasional meaty indulgence. Get your burger the way you want it — all organic sans hormones or antibiotics — salad style on greens or on a yummy bun — always in recyclable, compostable or biodegradable packaging.
Instead of the usual high fructose corn syrup sweetened coke, you can get natural sodas or kombucha. Don't miss the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies!
O! Burger. 8593 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. 310.854.034. 10:30 am – 9:30 pm daily.
Photo via OneGreenPlanet.org
This is for the traveler (occasional or frequent) trying to do at least the smallest amount of something to minimize impact on the environment. Yes, flying is a HUGE contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, but for many Angelenos with family, friends, work relations (not to mention travel fever) all over the country/world, flying is sometimes unavoidable…
While inventors figure out new modes of national and international travel, there are a few things you can do to minimize waste while traveling. Check out the tips below and also this article by the David Suzuki Foundation on environmental travel tips.
1. Refuse to eat airplane food. Firstly, it's usually beyond overly-processed slop, with likely little to no nutritional value (if you even get a meal). Secondly, it comes wrapped in at least one if not multiple layers of plastic, which all get thrown away. When meal service comes by, just say no thank you.
Alternative: Pack your own meal ahead of time. If you are traveling domestically in the United States, you can pack fresh fruit for yourself, and any cooked/prepared foods (sandwiches, soup, etc.) This also saves you money on expensive food at the airport. Make sure to pack enough food to last you until you arrive at your destination (unless you have time to eat a sit down meal at the airport, to avoid to-go packaging waste). If traveling internationally, do not take any fresh produce. However, you can pack cooked foods. If it's not too much to worry about, pack reusable cutlery.
2. Pack your own bottle, cup, and/or coffee mug for airline staff to pour drinks in. There is no need for a new plastic cup every time beverage service passes you by. You will get through airline security without a problem is there is NO LIQUID in your bottle. Once you are on the flight, ask the airline staff to pour your beverage into your cup. I have done this several times, without a problem. Be sure to carry your reusable cup around in your new destination to avoid getting drinks in single use containers.
Photo via BottleBill.org
3. Tired of exploding products in your suitcase? Do you buy new products once you reach your destination? Try this instead: squeeze all the air out of plastic bottles, and close the cap. Put all your bottles into one plastic bag. Squeeze the air out, and tie the bag closed. Put this bag into another bag with the ties facing the bottom of the second bag. Squeeze out the air and re-tie it. You should have no leaks with this method, though you are well protected if you do. Keep these bags with you throughout your whole trip, and maybe even set them aside when you return for future use.
4. If you are going across the state, or maybe just 1 city over, seriously consider taking a bus or a train round-trip. In LA, Metrolink is a GREAT way to connect to the whole Southern California region; you can put your bike on it for free, its cheaper than gas, and get you to the places you want to go as quickly as driving. Amtrak is more pricey and slower than driving, but if you are going far and have several days of travel time, it is definitely worth it.
Photo via LA Streets Blog
5. If you have to drive long distance, try to not rev the engine too hard (burns more gas), but gently push and release the accelerator. Try to maintain a single speed, to be easy on your engine. Again, pack enough food and drink for yourself to not have to get takeout with one use containers, or stop at sit down dine-in places.
6. If you have to drive, make an announcement on Facebook to see if anyone wants to make a trip with you (aka carpool), or check and post on Craigslist's rideshare page to see if anyone is offering or needs a ride to your destination.
7. At hotels – try to run shower and sink water on the lowest setting possible. Make sure to see if they have a green cleaning option available (so your sheets/towels are not changed everyday). Pack your own soaps and products, so that you don't have to open and waste the little plastic bottle convenience packs they give you. Make sure you always turn off the lights/heater/cooler when you are not in the room.
8. Do your research ahead of time – where are the local, sustainable restaurants located? Local bakeries?
9. Again, do your research ahead of time – how can you transport yourself without having to rent a car or take taxis everywhere? How can you get to your destination without a car? How can you get around the city without a car? Can you rent a bicycle for a few days?
Photo of Kyoto Cycling Tour Project, courtesy of TripAdvisor
10. Again, do your research ahead of time – what fruits and vegetables are in season in the place you are visiting? Try and order those things when you eat out.
11. For the last time, do your research ahead of time – what awesome environmental orgs are in the place you are visiting? Are there any community land trusts? Eco-villages? Bicycle coalitions? Urban gardens? Seed-saving organizations? If you are active on an issue in LA, can you link with an org doing similar work in a new place? Contact them ahead of time, if possible, to see if they are willing to meet with you or give you a tour of their facility. Coalition building is key in the environmental movement, and it's always good to get new ideas from stuff going on in new places. :)
There are some really amazing things happening in Los Angeles with regard to green jobs and funneling employment opportunities into the green sector. This coming week, the Good Jobs, Green Jobs West conference is taking place in Los Angeles on Thu., Mar. 15 and Fri., Mar. 16. Admission for both days is $195.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs West is part of a series of conferences taking place nationally. The Los Angeles conference is partnering with the California Labor Federation, who is also hosting their Workforce & Economic Development conference, Unemployed in America: Causes, Consequences, Solutions, which takes place immediately before Good Jobs, Green Jobs from Tue., Mar. 13 – Thu., Mar.15. You can attend both conferences at the rate of $295, by registering with the California Labor Federation and indicating that you want to attend Good Jobs, Green Jobs West during the registration process. Be sure not to register separately, or the discounted rate will not apply.
Conference keynote speakers and plenary panelists include: Congressman Xavier Becerra, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Teamsters general president James P. Hoffa, California Air Resources board chair Mary Nichols, California Labor Federation chief officer Art Pulaski, Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs co-chair Tom Steyer, Sierra Club national treasurer and past president Allison Chin, chairman of the BlueGreen Alliance's Apollo Project Phil Angelides, and others.
We have many hard-working people and organizations to thank for this, including Green for All, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), the Apollo Alliance, our innovative Los Angeles labor unions, and, of course, the countless individuals involved in pushing for transition to a sustainable, green economy.
If you can't attend the conference, but are interested in the subject matter, check out some of the above organizations. They do amazing work in Los Angeles, pushing forward green changes at the policy level. There are also other interesting green jobs movements afoot, such as the campaign for a Green New Deal.
I also highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Van Jones' seminal book Green Collar Economy if you haven't yet, since he has great ideas to rebuild a green, clean, prosperous America. You can also check out the website Green Collar Economy.
Lastly, if you can't attend the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference because you are looking for a green job, you might find one at Green Job Search.
Photos via Green Jobs, Good Jobs West
During my trip to EARTH University, we spent a day in the banana fields and at the packaging center. In the fields I was blown away when I saw how the bananeros harvest the bunches. One man uses a machete to separate the bunch from the tree, and another man hoists the 60 lb bunch onto his back and sprints across uneven terrain. He then nimbly chains the bunch onto the train that will take them to the packing plant.
There, workers spend 10 hours a day wielding knives at lightning speed. They inspect and separate the big bunch of bananas into the smaller banana hands that you pick up at Whole Foods.
While I was watching them work very hard, what I was really witnessing was the Whole Trade Guarantee in action. Whole Foods trusts Transfair USA, Rainforest Alliance, and Fair for Life to certify that suppliers have met criteria including quality, premium price to the producer, better wages and working conditions, and environmental sustainability.
According to Fair Trade USA, "Many of the developing worlds' small farmers live in poverty, struggling to feed their families and to maintain ownership of their land. Hired workers are often denied basic employment rights and fair wages, unable to escape poverty no matter how hard they work."
This is especially relevant to the banana industry because the companies that have dominated it have a dark history of treating workers unjustly, including knowingly exposing workers to toxic chemicals.
When workers and the environment are treated fairly, one could assume that the products will inevitably cost a little more. So how much are you willing to pay for the piece of mind that your bananas were not involved in the exploitation of innocent workers?
If you have extra pocket change, a dime to be exact, you could put it toward a good cause and potassium rich produce. I called several grocery stores and couldn't find bananas more then ten cents a pound cheaper than the fair trade variety, so why choose cheaper? Sometimes when you get a deal, someone else is paying for it.
Apparently a lot of shoppers feel the same way. According to a recent press release by Fair Trade USA, it was announced that sales of fair trade certified products are up 75% in 2011 in the U.S. That means huge improvements in a lot of peoples lives, and is proof of what big changes a small amount of change can make.
Photos by April Gilbert
Question: I mostly drink soy or almond milk, but I have been having difficulty finding a drop-off recycling facility for either the tetrapaks or the waxed cardboard containers. Through Earth911, it mentioned that the recycling facilities in Burbank and Montebello (I live in Pasadena) would take drink boxes, but when I called, the representatives at both facilities said they would take neither tetrapaks nor the waxed cardboard containers.
I just realized that Whole Foods sells milk in reuseable glass bottles that people can bring back, but I couldn't find such a thing for soy or almond milk.
Any suggestions (besides making my own)? Thanks, Anna
Answer: As with many eco-conundrums, there's no magic bullet solution here. However, I've got a myriad of suggestions that could help you out — at least for the Tetrapaks.
First — Can I convince you to consider making your own almond milk? I have no idea how to make soy milk, but I do know making almond milk's super simple — and will save you money and energy (from hauling those heavy Tetrapaks home) over time. The process consists of pouring water over raw almonds to soak over night — then blending them up in the morning. You can strain the resulting "milk," but you don't have to — just enjoy the extra fiber.
Second — Do you have friends in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, or other local cities that recycle Tetrapaks? If so, drop off your paks into their blue bins.
Third — Are you crafty? If so, look into reusing your Tetrapaks.
Readers — Feel free to weigh in with your own suggestions.
Always misplace your keys? There's a green and chic cure for that, and it's called hooknook.
The memory aid comes courtesy of flip & tumble, a modern eco company in the bay area, which invented the hooknook — a minimalist wall attachment that looks cute and does double duty as both a hook and a nook.
With a couple simple screws, I attached my hooknook right by my front door. Now, the hooknook always holds my keys — so I no longer have to spend minutes every day searching for them on my tables, my bags, my floor. In a pinch, the hooknook could be used to hold up my purse — though since I already have a spot for my purses, I only take advantage of the hooknook's nookness.
The hooknook's made with 50% recycled polypropylene — and comes with its own hardware for hooking it up on your wall. The thing only costs $12 — and will save you hours of key searching time over the years.
Photo via SLOLA website
>> Big City Forum presents Fast Forward: Los Angeles on the Verge, featuring a panel of speakers that will harness creative methods for a lively discussion around livability, sustainability, community, and the politics of place in Los Angeles. Takes places tonight, Wed., Mar. 7 at 7 pm at the Armory Center for the Arts, 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena. Cost: free.
>> What exactly is a 'genetically modified seed'? What is 'heirloom'? How do seed saving and local food growing relate to local and global peace? Who owns the future of food? Join the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Friends Peace Dialogue, speakers Megan Bomba (SLOLA) and Deanna Marie Weakly (Master Gardener, founder of Skid Row Rooftop Garden), and green LA girl writer Nisha Namorando Vida to learn and dialogue on these questions this Thu., Mar. 8 from 7-8:30 pm at the AFSC headquarters, 634. S. Spring St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles. Cost: free.
>> The G2 Gallery has begun a weekly screening of Ken Burns's six-part documentary The National Parks: America's Best Idea. The screenings provide a deeper understanding from a historical perspective of the people and places that shaped America's national parks. The screenings will be held every Thu., Feb. 9 – Mar. 15 at 2 pm. Check out this week's screening "Great Nature (1933–1945)", on Thu., Mar. 8 at 2 pm, G2 Gallery, 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice. Cost: $5. All proceeds will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund and the Sierra Club.
>> Santa Monica College is conducting its 10th annual Environmental and Urban Issues Speakers Series. Join Genevieve Bertone and other Santa Monica College faculty, staff, and students to learn how we are working on transportation, energy, food and other projects that make SMC more efficient and a better neighbor on Tue., Mar. 13 at 6:30 pm in HSS 263 on Santa Monica's Main Campus (Map). Cost: free.
Photo via Big City Forum
>> Don't pollute, or discarded plastics will turn into a monster and come after you! This short film shows a woman throw away a plastic bottle of sunscreen — only to have plastic objects collect into the shape of a menacing hand and come after her on the beach! (via NPR)
>> That's just the latest in many funny videos that have come online in the last few years to draw attention to the problem of anti-plastic pollution. In case you missed it, Santa Monica nonprofit Heal the Bay released "The Majestic Plastic Bag," a nature show spoof that follows the epic journey of a plastic bag from the store to the oceans.
Earlier: Styrofoam and the City: The fate of plastic bags and polystyrene in LA
Want tea on the go — but don't want your tea steeping in the plasticky Libretea? There's a less plasticky option for busy tea lovers: Innate Tea Culture Vaccum Insulated Flask.
This Innate flask lets you steep tea in an all stainless steel environment. The insulated flask is made of stainless steel, as is the removable tea infuser basket.
That said, the Innate flask isn't totally plastic free. The top black portion's made with plastic — though the plastic is BPA-free — so once you're done steeping and start drinking, your hot tea will start touching plastic.
And sadly, the Innate flask's got other downsides. The holes in the infuser are quite large — and will let through bits and pieces of most tisanes. The cup has no fill-line, which means I have to guesstimate how far I can fill up the cup. Not far enough, and the tea doesn't actually get infused. Too far, and the cup runneth over when I put in the infuser. I am not good at guessimating, so this is a big problem for me. Last but not least — The cap, described as "leak-proof," leaks — and I've burned my hands a few times as a result.
So I give the Innate flask a C. I still use it occasionally, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Libretea users — How does my experience compare to yours?
After reading all of the below, my general conclusion is that Tetrapaks are not particularly less sustainable than all the other packaging we use — but that a lot of the packaging we use is seriously unsustainable.
>> Tetrapak's pluses: Less energy wasted on refrigeration, less food wasted on spoilage, less fuel wasted in transport compared to heavier packaging, less space taken up in landfills than other containers.
>> Tetrapak's minuses: Even when recycled, tetrapak's downcycled as a lot of the materials can't be reused. All the paper fiber comes from trees, not recycled paper, because new fibers are needed to make the containers strong. The stuff's rather complicated and arguably expensive to recycle.
>> Natural Life magazine has, IMHO, the most balanced take on the Tetrapak issue.
>> The popular green blog Treehugger has vocal bloggers on both sides of the issue, with one calling Tetrapak "the most elaborate greenwashing scheme ever," and another dedicating a post to defending TetraPak. Treehugger also reports Tetrapak's embraced FSC-certification for the paper portion of its packaging — in some European countries.
>> Green biz blog TriplePundit's also taken up the Tetrapak issue.
>> Many local cities, including Santa Monica and West Hollywood, collect Tetrapacks for recycling.
Do you use Tetrapak? Opt for it over other types of packaging? Why or why not?
Photo by Tetra Pak
Want to shop less and live more? Maybe reading about how companies entice you to buy stuff you don't need will help you avoid their pull. Martin Lindstrom's book "Brandwashed" could help you do just that. Martin, a guy often hired by major companies to convince people open wallets to products, shares his trade secrets in this book — arming readers with the knowledge to figure out when they're being taken advantage of.
"Brandwashed" is full of both hilarious and shocking stories of how companies get people to buy. Sure, you may think you're above all the ads that unrealistically promise everlasting love and fantastic sex — yours simply for buying a product. But did you know companies start grooming you for their goodies — while you're still in utero? Some of the crazy tactics companies use — from stealth social marketing to skeevy online info mining — will likely shock you.
Buying unnecessary products means buying into more enviro damage — so greenies have a clear impetus to avoid such clandestine marketing ploys. But "Brandwashed" will open your eyes to even more reasons to avoid conventional products, to shop less, and to opt for eco-friendlier products on the occasions you do need to buy. Did you know, for example, that some conventional lip balm products actually contain ingredients that chap your lips? Or that Silk, when it started selling conventional soy milk, simply kept the same packaging while swapping out the word "organic" for "natural," thereby fooling harried shoppers into buying their unorganic stuff?
The news in "Brandwashed" isn't all doom and gloom for environmentalists. Sure, there's a lot of greenwashing going on, and even more goods being marketed quite fantastically without even a nod to eco-friendly ideals. But one of the strongest form of marketing, according to "Brandwashed," isn't even done by companies. Instead, it's done by individuals like yourself, through word of mouth.
Walk your green talk then talk about your walk — in an attractive, non-creepy, non-judgemental manner, of course — and you'll be able to influence your neighbors into doing the same.
"Brandwashed" is available at bookstores now — and online. Amazon has it for $15.39.
In a world of disposable everything, reusable stuff can seem skeevy — even when it's not. Tell the world you use a reusable cup during your period, and you could get some uncomfortable looks — though honestly, with my readership, I get more curiously interested ones.
The reusable cup I wrote about? The Keeper. The lifetime of that thing? An impressive 10 years. Believe it or not, I've crossed that decade mark!
The Keeper's been generally good to me. But to be honest, I haven't used it exclusively. For me, the Keeper's just cumbersome enough — in terms of size and comfort — that I only want to use it during the first couple days of my period. During those days, the Keeper is great, doing its job for way longer than a tampon and creating less mess to boot.
But on the lo-flo days, I often switch to skinny tampons or pantiliners. The rubber mold's pretty thick and not particularly flexible — which makes the thing just annoying enough not to use.
Enter Lunette. This menstrual cup's used just like the Keeper, but Lunette's made with made with a thinner, softer, more flexible silicone — and has a slightly smaller circumference than the Keeper. That makes Lunette easier to insert and remove — and a lot more comfortable to use on a daily basis.
So far, I'm sold on Lunette. The one downside: While the Keeper's website clearly states it can last 10 years, the Lunette's site only makes vague promises about how it will "last for years." I hope I'll know when to let my Lunette go.
Earlier: Lunapads: Soft organic comfort followed by cleanup woes
>> The City of Los Angeles wants to hear your ideas for solving our transportation challenges! LA/2B and the City of Los Angeles are hosting Mobility Think Lab Workshops and would love to hear from you! Attend the workshop in two locations this Sat. Mar. 3, either from 9:30-11:30 am at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, 501 N. Main Street, Los Angeles, or from 1:30-3:30 pm at Pacoima Neighborhood Constituent Services Center, 13520 W. Van Nuys Blvd., Pacoima. If you can't attend, voice your thoughts to Ideas.LA2B.org. Cost: free.
>>Join the LA County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) for Tour de Taste and explore Ballona Creek, Culver City and beyond by bike! Learn about environmental and aesthetic enhancements that have been made to the Ballona Creek bike and pedestrian path and enjoy delicacies from fine restaurants in the area on Sun., Mar. 4. Registration opens at 9 am, tours begin at 10 am, leaving from Media Park at the corner of Culver Blvd & Venice Blvd in Culver City. Cost: $65 for LACBC members, $95 for non-members, and $120 for ticket plus LACBC membership.
>> Come tour the Los Angeles River (by foot and car) from Elysian Valley to Long Beach, with a stop for tacos in Boyle Heights and raspados in Bell this Sun., Mar. 4 from 9:30-4:30 pm. Cost: $25 for adults, $20 for kids, seniors and nonprofits. Pre-register online.
Image via Los Angeles Mobility Element
Raw chia pudding's a favorite healthy snack of mine — and I've got both the super simple version and the complex but more delicious super-fruit version down. This month, I've added a new chia pudding recipe that's still quick and easy but richer and superfoodier, thanks to raw superfood company Nutiva.
Nutiva offers organic hemp, coconut and chia to would-be superfoodies — and a simple recipe combines all three into a yummy, nutritious Chia Cereal. Here's what it looks like:
And here's how to make it, from the back of Nutiva's Chia Seed package:
Nutiva Chia Cereal
2 Tbsp Nutiva Chia Seed
2 Tbsp Nutiva Hempseed
1 Tbsp Coconut Manna
6 oz. water or milk
Apple, banana, or berries
Honey or maple syrup
Make a delicious breakfast treat by soaking chia seeds for 5 minutes (I recommend soaking the seeds for at least a couple hours for a more pudding-like effect) in hot or cold liquid. Add sliced fruit, hempseed, and honey or syrup, and dig in!
Coconut Manna, by the way, is basically coconut oil pureed with coconut meat — for extra fiber, texture, and taste. Don't be alarmed if most of the oil's separated and floated to the top when you open the jar. That's normal — just like it's normal for the oil to float to the top of pure peanut butter. Stir and enjoy. I actually like to use Coconut Manna as butter on toast . It's got a complex rich and creamy, somewhat peanut buttery taste. So simple and so delicious!
You can find Nutiva products at Whole Foods and other local natural food stores — as well as online on Nutiva's web store.
If you're a writer, you've probably had some long discussions about writing implements — and probably even have a favorite pen you "need" to write properly. I'm rather easygoing when it comes to the type of pen — I'll take whatever's handy — but I'm partial to eco-friendlier options.
Well now, picky eco-writers now have one online spot they can pick up all they need: Jetpens.com. This web store's curated an environmentally conscious section, with everything from biodegradable pencil sharpeners to eco-friendly crayons to recycled pens.
Jetpens.com sent me a few pens to try out — and I was pleased with what I got. The store's got the more easy-to-find goodies like the Pilot B2P Bottle to Pen I've reviewed before — but it's also got eco-friendly liquid ink pens, twin-tip gray and black pens, and recycled fountain pens too.
My favorite, now that I'm teaching a lot and grading papers, is the Zebra SK-Sharbo pen. The thing's actually two pens (one black, one red) and a mechanical pencil in one, all put in a clear recycled casing.
Yes, it's true — many of Jetpens.com's products come from far-off places like China and Japan. But I'm sure you already knew that most of the pens on the market now also come from far-off places — and aren't as green.
Jetpens.com also offers nice eco-notebooks made with FSC-certified paper. What are you writing with?
Hola from Costa Rica! I am writing from EARTH University where I am spending a week living as a student with a group sent by Whole Foods. EARTH is a tropical paradise with a mission: to prepare leaders with ethical values to contribute to the sustainable development of the tropics and to construct a prosperous and just society. They are reaching these ambitious goals in surprising and inspiring ways which I have been lucky enough to witness during my stay.
If EARTH University sounds familiar to you, you may have seen it on a banana label on the shelf of your neighborhood Whole Foods Market. In addition to bananas, Whole Foods supports the universities commercial enterprise by sourcing pineapples, tropical flowers, and coffee. (If you haven't tried Costa Rican coffee, run, don't walk to whole foods to buy some. It's amazing!)
Profits support EARTH's scholarship program, which is important because half of all students receive a full scholarship and an additional 30% receive a partial scholarship. The students come mostly from Latin American countries and don't have the economic means to afford a college education. The goal is that the students return home after graduation and improve their communities with the knowledge they have gained at EARTH. It's working because each EARTH grad creates roughly four jobs.
The curriculum is a combination of hands on learning and traditional classroom style. Each student starts and runs a business beginning in their second year, making them effective agricultural entrepreneurs. My condensed experience here has had me spending time in the banana fields, the packing plant, multiple gardens (most of the food in the cafeteria is grown on campus), and classrooms, including the soil lab, which was a crash course in the chemistry of what makes good soil.
More than just an institution of higher education, EARTH is deeply committed to the improvement of local communities. La Florita is the first carbon neutral community in Costa Rica, and possibly Latin America, because the university has committed to sharing its agricultural and environmental knowledge. Earlier today EARTH students and I helped install a bio-digester in a small farm which will help the environment by keeping pig waste from contaminating the local eco system, and also provide methane gas for the family to cook with, so they don't have to cut down trees to use for firewood. Earth is innovating and implementing many more similar solutions that benefit the environment and communities.
Everyone here at EARTH has been exceptionally warm and welcoming. Not just the professors, staff, and students, but also the local sloth and iguana seem to say hola in their own way. The pura vida attitude is contagious. I am looking forward to my "graduation" even though it will be sad to leave this amazing place. When I return home I hope to improve my community by sharing the knowledge I have gained this week, just like a real EARTH graduate.
Photos by April Gilbert
Can the Grammys go green? The Grammys are working on reducing their impact on the environment by implementing a series of steps to minimize energy, food and packaging waste, and to raise public awareness on the need for individuals, events, and corporations to make changes now for a healthier future. Natural Resource Defense Council's helping The Grammys learn ways to implement these goals -– definitely a step in the right direction.
This year the Recording Academy (the institution behind the Grammys) organized the 2nd Annual Greening Summit: The Sound Of Social Change at the Conga Room at L.A. Live. The event was sponsored by Waste Management, and featured a panel focusing on "Corporate responsibility in sustainability and how industry insiders can use their collective power to drive change in greening."
The panel of corporate executives representing four companies working on incorporating initiatives to lessen their impact on Earth's ecosystems, and two companies focused on sustainability consulting featured Bridgette Bell, global sustainability manager for Yum! Brands (owners of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut); William Brent, executive vice president of Weber Shandwick's Cleantech; Jennifer Miller DuBuisson, associate manager of global sustainability for Mattel; Michael J. O'Brien, vice president of corporate and product placement at Hyundai; and Tim Sexton, co-founder of environmental policy business association Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Greg Baldwin, executive director of Environmental Media Association, moderated the panel.
There are definitely two ways to interpret the success of this event, a la Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, due to the complexity of the issues surrounding corporate sustainability.
On the one hand, (cue Dr. Jekyll) the Greening Summit should be considered a success and a motivation for other companies around the globe, whether staffed by 5 or 500,000 people. It was also a bit of relief for those (like me) concerned about the impact of non-environmentally sustainable business practices on Earth's health now and in the future.
The featured panelists concluded that being "green" is a movement and not just a trend, applying this conclusion both to change in the corporate realm and to observed patterns of consumer demand. Considering that each of the panelists represented companies through which pass billions of dollars, this was no small statement.
When asked if they see green practice in their business, each of the individuals presented various strategies that their companies are involved in to lessen ecological impact. For example, Mattel's toy packaging is now made of sugar cane and they are using sustainably sourced fibers for their toys, Yum! is investing in making their eateries LEED certified, and Hyundai has implemented a zero-waste policy at its manufacturing facilities. Hyundai also has its own steel plant, designed to capture released gases to power the factory itself (a $6 billion investment).
In talking about green strategy, Sexton (E2 co-founder) mentioned that 10 years ago all companies had internet strategies; today there are no internet strategies, as these are fundamentally integrated into a company's main business strategy. He sees green strategy as being of a similar vein. He also hearkened to the 60s, pointing out that today's "green movement" is a result of many years of struggle for change.
With regard to "greenwashing," Brent of Cleantech mentioned that his company's clients are not interested in implementing strategies that will only market sustainability without having attainable results. Clients are looking for "green" strategies — like using internet conference technologies to replace air travel for business meetings — that can cut costs while saving the planet. He also mentioned growing consumer interest in the greening of businesses, visible through different forums such as carrotmob.org.
It was great to hear individuals in strong positions in the corporate sector talk passionately about wanting to move ahead with sustainability practices in their companies, until the day when their jobs are no longer needed. As a colleague of mine present at the event pointed out, it is good motivation for smaller and mid-sized businesses to see large corporations incorporate waste and eco-impact minimizing strategies into their business plans; if changes can be made on such a large scale, so can they on the smaller scale.
On the other hand, (and out comes Mr. Hyde) there were several shortcomings to this event that demonstrate areas in which serious challenges to true human symbiosis with the earth remain (is symbiosis our ultimate, collective goal? I think so, do you?).
A Waste Management (WM) manager opened the event with a very scripted talk about WM's sustainability practices. At one point she talked about how our generation is the first ever to be in a position to leave the Earth better than we found it. This unhistorical comment is emblematic of some of the underlying problems within how "sustainability" is framed today, which leads to serious limitations in how "sustainability strategies" become formulated and implemented in businesses.
It is a historical truth that Native American peoples held the Earth in stewardship, until colonization of the Americas meant that American land was transfered from Native stewardship to land ownership by British (and other) colonists, followed by industrialization (which inherently requires natural resource consumption), the post-Great Depression transition from family farming to industrial agriclture, and real estate sprawl. The beauty that John Muir saw in Yosemite was so because of how the Native American peoples worked with forests and ecosystems; their impact on our ecosystems is still visible in today's remaining wild spaces.
Destruction of native ways of living and subsequent transition to an industrialized, mass production and consumption society is a fundamental reason for the massive problems we face globally today, whether considering the burning of the Amazon for soy, cattle and sugar, the razing of Appalachian mountain tops for coal, or the transformation of our world's rivers into manufacturing corridors. No matter how you phrase it, Barbies are unnecessary tolls on the Earth, and are simply not 'eco-friendly', even if packaged in sugar cane plastic (the 'eco-friendliness' of which is itself dubious).
Hyper-processing raw materials (wood, petroleum, corn, sugar cane, iron, etc.) into products with only temporary purpose for humans and limited ability to healthily reintegrate with the Earth cannot be sustainable; it presents a huge toll on the Earth from material extraction and sourcing, the building of factories, toxic outputs from product creation, waste generated by product packaging (and other marketing efforts), and waste generated by the product after it is discarded by human consumers.
Even if there are some native peoples in different parts of the world who did not go out of their way to steward the Earth (or who maybe engaged in damaging practices like slash and burn), their impact was miniscule compared to that of modern industrial practices.
The point is, there have been many generations before ours that left the Earth in a better way than they found it; our generation is the first to face the threats of human induced climate change and mass extinction in a way so pervasive that we are being forced to rethink what it means to "live with the Earth" because of how ill the planet and its people are becoming due to irresponsible use of land and Earth's resources.
Concerns such as these lie at the root of the "green" movement, which is in turn inspiring many people to invest in local economies, goods and services, while cutting unnecessary consumption out of their lives (nevermind the pathetic state of our economy, generally speaking). It might just be that companies that produce unnecessary goods have to face this reality and start considering how to restructure the goods and services they provide in a more holistic manner – for the benefit of consumers and the futures of their own children and grandchildren.
This event also made me realize how intrinsic food production is to the sustainability movement. Local growers are uniting with raw foodists who are in turn forming food coops to provide things like raw milk. These efforts are being spawned by the exponentially growing number of people who have come to realize how enormously detrimental "conventional" farming is on human and environmental health, while also discovering the superior potential of responsible, sustainable, live agriculture to augment the Earth's ability to grow and regenerate, while still providing more than enough food for the world's peoples.
My food epiphany came to me during the question and answer period (which was very short-lived). An audience member representing the Clean Agency asked the Yum! Brands rep (Bell) if Yum's transition to sustainability included sourcing food from sustainable and organic food growers and farms that use humane practices to raise animals for meat consumption. Bell responded by saying that another department handles food matters. Prior to the q&a, Bell had mentioned that Yum!'s goal is to feed the whole world, meaning that the primary purpose for the existence of Yum! is to give lots of food to lots of people. Industrial agriculture is a primary contributor to global warming, behind automobile and factory exhaust – a fact that a global sustainability executive should know. If Yum! is not looking at alternative sourcing of its food ingredients, then by existing, it is ultimately choosing to be a significant cause of environmental degradation, regardless of measures taken by its stores to "green."
At that point, I also realized that the panelists seemed to be blurring the difference between implementing sustainability practices to satisfy consumer demand versus creating company sustainability policies based on a prioritization of environmental health. I decided to ask the panel a question about what training they have had that qualifies them to be sustainability experts. A Local to Global volunteer filmed their response (see video below). What do you think of their responses?
My final Mr. Hyde criticism is to emphasize that the Greening Summit lacked any connection whatsoever to organizations contracted by the Recording Academy to build sustainability into the Grammys. There were no introductory or concluding remarks from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the nonprofit advising the Recording Academy on how to plan a more sustainable celebration, and I was unable to meet any NRDC staff. The food served was the standard continental breakfast fare of cantaloupe, pastries and cheap coffee. The only Grammy/Greening Summit connection seemed to be the event's location at L.A. Live, which uses enormous amounts of energy and water 24/7.
Criticism can be constructed either as means to degrade something, or as an opportunity to make something (like a movement!) stronger by pointing out flaws and weak spots.
The Mr. Hyde criticisms presented here were not written to disparage efforts made thus far in the corporate sector, but instead to challenge green LA girl readers, the corporate sector and the global community toward increasingly innovative thinking — and NOW!
The Greening Summit panel clearly consisted of a group of powerful individuals who are excellent at their jobs, want to care about the planet and its people, are pioneering the drive in the corporate sector to think about human impact on the planet, and seemed to be coming from internal places of honesty and passion. While the work they are doing is crucial, there is just so much more that needs to be done right now by all individuals and businesses throughout the globe.
Through efforts to "green" the Grammys and by organizing the Greening Summit (more photos here from the event), the Recording Academy clearly seems to be interested in opening dialogue and spurring education on how to green businesses. As an inherently cultural institution, they also seem to be interested in inspiring cultural change toward sustainability.
So what are your thoughts on these issues? Let's keep this dialogue going.
Photo by Nisha Namorando Vida