HGTV's Brooks Utley Partners With Plastics Make it Possible

WASHINGTON D.C. - Saving energy at home can be a confusing topic, so Plastics Make it Possible®, an initiative sponsored by the plastics industries of the American Chemistry Council, is partnering with HGTV's Brooks Utley to show that it doesn't take a lot of money, time, or skill to improve energy efficiency– a priority for most American homeowners. According to a recent survey(1) conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of Plastics Make it Possible® that measured homeowner attitudes toward home-energy efficiency, 92 percent of American homeowners feel it's important to make their homes more energy efficient, yet almost half of those surveyed (46 percent) are not taking the necessary steps to increase their home's energy efficiency because they think it's too expensive. "While most homeowners realize the importance of home-energy efficiency, far fewer are aware of the many cost effective ways to make their homes more energy efficient," said Brooks Utley, green building and design expert and star of HGTV shows The $250,000 Challenge and Designed to Sell. "Plastics are an integral part of home building and design today and can play a big role in making homes more energy efficient. I'm thrilled to be working with Plastics Make it Possible® to show homeowners simple steps they can take to lower their energy bills." To explore new innovations in home energy efficiency available to consumers, Brooks Utley and Plastics Make it Possible® are headed to the 2011 Solar Decathlon in Washington D.C. From September 24 through October 2, collegiate teams from across the nation showcase livable homes built using the latest innovations in green building and energy efficiency. "The Solar Decathlon is a great place for Plastics Make it Possible® and Brooks Utley to showcase how plastics can help improve energy efficiency throughout the building and construction industry," said Steve Russell, vice president, Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council. "Plastic building products can help reduce energy expenses and lower maintenance costs, too – we're really glad that Brooks is partnering with us to help consumers save energy." To encourage energy efficiency, Plastics Make it Possible® has launched an online interactive house that highlights ways to save energy using plastics. Visitors can customize a virtual home and share it online for entry into a sweepstakes to win a $250 gift card to a home improvement store. Visit www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com for more information. Consumers can help increase their own home energy efficiency while spending little and without sacrificing style and design. Plastics Make it Possible® offers the following tips:

• Seal it Up: Installing plastic weather stripping around drafty windows and doors helps reduce the loss of warm or cool air throughout the home.
• Swap them Out: Replacing older, inefficient windows with durable, low maintenance vinyl plastic windows can help save on energy costs. More efficient windows help keep hot or cold air where it belongs – whether outside or inside – to reduce heating and cooling costs.
• Insulate: Plastic foam insulation for roofs, walls and foundations helps improve energy efficiency and save on utility bills.

For more information, visit www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com, check out their Facebook page and follow them @plasticpossible on twitter at www.twitter.com/plasticpossible.

Melvin Wylie

22nd Episode of GreenNews4U

Welcome to the 22nd episode of GreenNews4U! We all have a part to play in the eco system. Everything we do affects the environment around us. From logging, strip mining, deforestation, water pollution, population expansion, the list goes on. All these things affect the wildlife and in turn affect the population, that's human population and the wildlife population. We all know capturing the perfect picture can communicate more than words. In this episode I will be talking with Sebastian about wildlife conservation. Sebastian grew up in Munich, Germany and moved to the United States when he was ten years old. His fascination with wildlife began in Europe and only increased once he saw the wilderness that America has to offer. Wildlife became his passion and he studied Behavioral Ecology at the University of California at Santa Cruz to further his knowledge about animals. His current mission is to showcase the beauty and intricacies of nature while highlighting the critical need for more conservation efforts through his images. He loves to photograph and experience the animals he sees and wants to share these stories through his images. This, he hopes, will inspire others to help fight for the conservation of these amazing creatures.

To view his web page and blog please go here and support this mans projects to help bring awareness to endangered species.

Melvin Wylie

UNSEEN TEARS: THE IMPACT OF NATIVE AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL BOARDING SCHOOLS IN WESTERN NEW YORK

UNSEEN TEARS: THE IMPACT OF NATIVE AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL BOARDING SCHOOLS IN WESTERN NEW YORK (30:35) by Ron Douglas from Squeaky Wheel on Vimeo. Produced by Native American Community Services of Erie and Niagara Counties, Inc. Funded by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Native American families in Western New York continue to feel the impact of the Thomas Indian School and the Mohawk Institute. Survivors speak of traumatic separation from their families, abuse, and a systematic assault on their language and culture. Western New York Native American communities are presently attempting to heal the wounds and break the cycle inter-generational trauma resulting from the boarding school experience. Unseen Tears documents testimonies of boarding school survivors, their families, and social service providers.  

Melvin Wylie

Drought Conditions in East Africa Remain Dire

BALTIMORE, Sept. 27, 2011 - By the thousands, hungry, weary and desperate people continue to arrive at the gates of the Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya, seeking refuge from the drought and food crisis that has driven more than 13 million people across East Africa to the brink of starvation. Fatumah Muhammed Abdi fled to Dadaab with five unaccompanied children from her village, for whom she is still caring. "When we had nothing else to live for there, we decided to come all the way from Somalia to Kenya," she says. Amina Bulle, 18, traveled 20 days on foot with her infant son to reach the camps. "We had no food in Somalia," she says. "My people were herders but the livestock are all dead so I have fled to Kenya." In response to this crisis, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is working with its partner, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), to meet the immediate and long-term needs of communities suffering the effects of drought. LWF manages the Dadaab camps and reports that while they were originally built to host 90,000 refugees, they are now hosting over 400,000 people with 1,200 new arrivals each day. By the end of 2011, the camp population will likely exceed 500,000 people in need of immediate and long-term humanitarian assistance. LWR and LWF have been working to provide water, baby care supplies and psychological support to new arrivals, an extension of the work LWR and LWF have done in Dadaab since 2008, through a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM), linking vulnerable refugees to social services, providing shelter and promoting security within the camps. BPRM recently awarded LWR a $440,000 grant to continue this work with LWF. In addition, LWR and LWF are supplying water to people waiting outside the camps and to communities surrounding the Dadaab complex. "It's important to remember the host communities in Dadaab," says McCully. "Reaching out to them with assistance promotes peace and fosters their long-term recovery as well." In Ethiopia, LWR and LWF are working to reach underserved rural communities, distributing food as well as training farmers to improve natural resource management and agriculture and providing tools and other supplies to begin replanting. "Relief is only the first step," stresses McCully. "To move past this crisis and help rural communities stand up to future droughts, we must make a long-term investment in agricultural livelihoods." Long-term plans should seek to ensure that farmers have access to water, supplies and technical training to successfully grow crops and raise livestock. Efforts to promote soil conservation, improve agricultural infrastructure and increase access to local markets will help smallholder farmers become more resilient to future droughts. LWR has seen success with this type of agricultural approach in other drought-affected communities in East Africa and hopes to carry out similar work in response to this crisis.

Melvin Wylie

World's Greenest Museum Gets Second LEED Platinum Award

Awarded for its sustainable operations and maintenance, the California Academy of Sciences is now the world's largest "Double Platinum" building SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2011 - On September 27, 2008, the California Academy of Sciences unveiled the world's greenest museum—an eco-friendly new home featuring a hilly living roof, recycled denim insulation, and many other green innovations. Three years and more than five million visitors later, the museum celebrates another symbolic color: platinum. Today, the U.S. Green Building Council presented the Academy with its second LEED Platinum award, making the California Academy of Sciences the world's first "Double Platinum" museum and the world's largest Double Platinum building. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the Academy building houses an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and world-class research and education programs under one living roof, standing as an embodiment of its 158-year-old mission to explore, explain, and protect the natural world. The new award bolsters San Francisco's efforts to maintain its designation as the greenest city in the country. "We couldn't be more proud of the California Academy of Sciences for its commitment to high levels of environmental performance, and for setting the example as a leader in the San Francisco green building community and around the world," said San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee. "Their Double Platinum rating is truly a remarkable achievement for our City." The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system is a consensus-based standard for evaluating high-performance, sustainable buildings, and the Platinum rating is its highest award. In October 2008, the Academy received its first LEED Platinum rating under the "New Construction" category, which focused on the building's design and construction process. Today, the Academy received its second LEED Platinum award under the "Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance" category, which certifies that its day-to-day operations and business practices also meet the highest standards of sustainability. The Academy's operations and maintenance practices were evaluated and earned points across six different categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. Based on a wide range of green practices and performance metrics, including staff transportation, purchasing decisions, and high recycling and composting rates, it was awarded a total of 82 points, exceeding the threshold for a Platinum certification (80 points). Founded in 1853, the California Academy of Sciences is one of the world's preeminent natural history museums and is an international leader in scientific research about the natural world. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Academy's original home in Golden Gate Park, but also provided a silver lining: the opportunity to reinvent the facility from the ground up. After nearly a decade of planning and the largest cultural fundraising effort in San Francisco history, the new Academy opened to the public in 2008. This major new initiative built on the Academy's distinguished history and deepened its commitment to advancing scientific literacy, engaging the public, and documenting and conserving Earth's natural resources. "Our LEED Platinum building is a marvelous example of sustainable architecture that has wowed millions of visitors since we opened three years ago," said Dr. Gregory Farrington, Executive Director of the Academy. "However, it is more than just a building. It is also a stage—one that has allowed us to host a wide variety of programs and exhibits about the history and future of life on Earth. Delivering these programs as sustainably as possible helps us inspire our visitors to make sustainable choices in their own lives."

Melvin Wylie

World Vegetarian Day - October 1: Give Vegetarianism a Try and Win Up to $1,000

DOLGEVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 27, 2011 - Vegetarians and interested individuals from around the globe will be joining the North American Vegetarian Society on October 1st, 2011, for the annual celebration of World Vegetarian Day. Since its inception in 1977, the event has commemorated the health-supporting and life-affirming benefits of vegetarianism. World Vegetarian Day is the annual kick-off of Vegetarian Awareness Month. There are many reasons people choose a vegetarian diet. It has proven health benefits, saves animals' lives and helps to preserve the Earth. To encourage non-vegetarians to give meatless eating a try, the North American Vegetarian Society has developed a prize-winning contest. Non-vegetarians who pledge to abstain from all meat, fish and fowl during Vegetarian Awareness Month (October) will be entered in a random drawing for cash prizes. The top winner will get $1,000 in cash. One winner will be chosen in each of the following three categories: One day - $250; One week - $500; One month - $1,000. People can enter the "Give Vegetarianism a Try" contest at http://www.worldvegetarianday.org Join us to make the world a better place and we are all winners! Vegetarian Diets:

• Reduce the risk of major killers such as heart disease, stroke and cancer while cutting exposure to foodborne pathogens
• Provide a viable answer to feeding the world's hungry through more efficient use of grains and other crops
• Save animals from suffering in factory-farm conditions and from the pain and terror of slaughter
• Conserve vital but limited freshwater, fertile topsoil and other precious resources
• Preserve irreplaceable ecosystems such as rainforests and other wildlife habitats
• Decrease greenhouse gases that are accelerating global warming
• Mitigate the ever-expanding environmental pollution of animal agriculture

Melvin Wylie

University of Kansas Becomes More Energy Efficient

LAWRENCE, KS — The University Center for Sustainability has teamed up with with Energy Solutions Professionals to replace energy-consuming light bulbs around The University of Kansas, according to the Daily Kansan. Jeff Servin, director of the center for sustainability, hopes to complete the project by the end of October. "Today, we're trying to get about 150 bulbs out. They've identified about 3,000 lamps on campus that we might be able to change out, so I know their goal is at least a couple thousand bulbs". The new bulbs will also help the university contribute to the Take Charge Challenge, a competition of energy conservation among cities in Kansas. Savings from the new light bulbs looks to be the equivalent of saving more than 9,000 gallons of gasoline each year. Click here to read the complete article.

Melvin Wylie