Can’t fit any more crème colored blouses in your closet? Or are those perfectly fitted designer jeans suddenly too tight for your budget? You may be in need of some feel good fashion fundamentals. Just ask Jessi Arrington.
With her heart on her sleeve and her mother’s advice echoing in her head, this optimistic songbird is a small-town girl turned designer businesswoman. What’s more, she is a soldier for the sustainable cause.
Arrington, who founded the socially responsible design company WORKSHOP with her husband and best friend, caused jaws to drop in March 2011 when she spoke at the TED Conference. During her presentation she admitted that her suitcase only contained 7 pairs of underpants, and all of her outfits for the weeklong conference were found at second-hand stores.
This brilliant blogger can’t get over the perks of sustainable shopping. She’s able to put together outfits for under twenty dollars and says she meets the most interesting people along the way. Declaring that her favorite color is “rainbow,” Arrington encourages fellow shoppers to branch out from neutral tones and take advantage of the whole color spectrum. She assures her following, “If you believe you’re a beautiful person inside and out, there’s no look you can’t pull off.”
What Makes It Green:
GreenCupboards.com has been won over by this savvy sustainable charmer. We support not only her optimism but her dedication to integrating conservative buying practices into her efforts to decrease her own consumer footprint. Stepping out each day with vigorous enthusiasm for living an ecologically responsible lifestyle, Arrington serves as inspiration for all sustainable greenies out there.
Dolce & Gabbana “not interested in deaths of Sandblasting workers” Dolce & Gabbana’s “Killer Jeans” are news headlines this week. (National Turk & Guardian)
As the headlines express, there is some serious outrage at Dolce & Gabbana’s sandblasting practice, which has lead to the deaths of several factory workers. Sandblasting is a method for giving jeans the “faded” and “worn” look that is currently in style. True to its name, Sandblasting involves blasting jeans with high velocity sand using a machine that functions like a power washer. The problem with this process is that it exposes workers to an excess of silica dust that can cause silicosis, an often-lethal disease.
Also under fire for indifference to the potential health effects of the jean styling technique of sandblasting are Giorgio Armani, and Roberto Cavalli. Companies that have complied with activist demands to ban sandblasting are Levi’s, H&M, Benetton, Burberry, Carrera Jeans, Gucci Levi-Strauss, Pepe Jeans, Replay, and C&A.
The Clean Clothes Campaign is leading the charge against Dolce & Gabbana and other companies reluctant to change their unhealthy manufacturing. You can be apart of the movement by going to Change.org and signing their petition, currently 341,851 people have signed the petition. Change.org has voiced further anger after activist demanded a ban on sandblasting via Facebook wall post on Dolce & Gabbana’s page, the company chose to delete the post rather than respond, you can no longer comment on their wall.
In 2009 sandblasting was banned in Turkey after 46 sandblasters developed silicosis, proof that sandblasting and the pulmonary disease are related. Currently there is no cure for silicosis, which can often turn intotuberculosis. Silicosis is most often caused by occupational exposure, such as sandblasting. Silicosis is also known as “Potters Rot” and “Stone Masons Disease”. According to MedicineNet.com: “Because there is no effective treatment for silicosis, prevention through exposure control is essential.” Meaning that a ban on sandblasting is truly the best option to ensure worker’s wellbeing.
The Clean Clothes Campaign are courteous to companies by alerting them of their health or environmental damages, and offering them a chance to change before targeting them with more aggressive activist campaigns.
Companies should have the moral conscience to change practices that are harmful to workers, not just customers. Unfortunately, Deborah Lucchetti, Clean Clothes Campaign spokeswoman reported: “In these seven months, they [Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana] are the only companies that have remained totally indifferent.”
Will you be signing the ant-sandblasting petition? Voice your opinions on ethical treatment for workers in comments below.
Also check out our Sustainable Princess article and watch the video of Kelly Osbourne passively endorsing Dolce & Gabbana.
The Pope is going “green” Pope Benedict XVI has been dubbed the “Green Pope” for his support of environmental initiatives. The most recent sustainable practice Pope Benedict is implementing is switching to a hybrid Popemobile. The new Popemobile will be able to run for 18.5 miles solely on battery power.
Just because the Pope is going “green” doesn’t mean he’s going to be out of style, quiet contrary, Benedict XVI will be cruising around in a modified Mercedes’ M class. Originally the pope requested an all-electric car, but due to security reasons, the car had to be a hybrid so that in the case of an emergency it could run faster off fuel. The car will run off of a lithium battery which can be charged in an hour and run for 18.5 miles, and has a 60 horsepower hybrid engine.
As well as being “green” the new Popemobile will most certainly be built with tank-like security to ensure the safety of the Pope. In 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca, attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II, and thus the Popemobile’s design was permanently altered to include a surrounding box of bulletproof glass. The Popemobile was first introduced in 1980 so John Paul II could see large groups of people up close after the old method of being courted on a chair (sedia gestatoria) carried by papal attendants was scrapped.
Mercedes is not commenting on it’s divine hybrid commission. Speculators are expecting to see the new Popemobile first revealed during, or before Pope Benedict’s trip to Germany in September but only time will tell.
Aside from the hybrid, another of Pope Benedict XVI’s environmental initiatives is to convert 20% of the Vatican’s power to renewable energy by 2020. Back in 2008 solar panels were installed over the Paul VI Auditorium.
The world’s first shark sanctuary has recently been set up in Palau, an island East of the Philippians. Sharks in Palau were, and still sharks around the world are, being hunted for their fins. A shark hunting method known as “shark finning” involves cutting off a sharks fins then releasing the still living shark back into the water. When a de-finned shark gets dropped in the ocean, it dies a death similar to an amputee left to die in the desert. The IUCN Shark Specialist Group recently concluded that over 50 percent of the world’s oceanic shark populations are threatened for extinction. The poaching of sharks worldwide is a major issue, yet many nations like Palau, Australia, and the United States have made an effort to help curb declining shark population trend, which is the result of the overfishing of sharks.
“Scientists in Western Australia have created a DNA database of nine protected species of shark. Species like the hammerhead, dusky, grey nurse, and sandbar sharks are part of the database the authorities can use to determine if someone is in possession of protected sharks. With a small sample from the fin or meat, authorities will have a higher success rate when it comes to prosecuting people who violate the shark protection laws.”
Australia has not yet issued a full shark-fishing ban, but has several species that are protected such as the Grey Nurse Shark, the Speartooth Shark, and the Northern River Shark.
Palau has instituted a full ban on all shark-fishing to help protect their native shark population. While sharks have few aquatic predators, humans have become the shark’s greatest danger.
On December 2010 the United States Senate passed the Shark Conservation Act, this bill banned “shark finning”. On January 4, 2011 President Obama singed the bill into law. The new shark protection laws also prohibit the trade and possession of shark fins.
The Shark conservation Act was intensely supported in Hollywood by Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johanssen, Jackie Chan, Brad Pitt, and Yao Ming along with many others.
The motivation for hunters to go “shark finning” is for the use of the fin in a traditional Chinese delicacy, shark fin soup. Scientific American calls the soup “extinction in a bowl”. A shark fin soup bowl can sell for over $100 making “shark finning” a very lucrative practice.
The most outrage against the Shark Conservation Act is coming from San Francisco’s Chinatown where the bill has been referred to as “A Chinese Exclusion Act in a bowl”. Shark fin soup has long been a symbol of wealth and prosperity in Chinese upper class. As one Chinatown shop owner, Anna Li, stated: her clientele would say “No shark’s fin soup, you’re cheap.” Meanwhile, It is estimated that 73 million sharks are being killed per year. (NY Times)
Many nations around the world are recognizing the need to protect shark populations by enacting or considering bans similar to those instituted in Palau, Australia, and the United States.
Watch the CNN video below to lean more about the Shark Sanctuary in Palau:
A swarm of Great White Sharks
Many sharks, like the wolf and lion, are keystone species. A keystone species is defined as: those whose presence or absence lead to dramatic changes in ecological and species diversity. (Suite101) Scientist define both the Great White Shark and the Tiger Shark as keystone species. Testing using underwater cameras and tracking devices is currently being done in the Florida Keys to determine if the Hammerhead Shark is also a keystone species.
Unlike many species, sharks have undergone few evolutionary changes in their long existence. Charcharodon Megalodon is an ancient relative to modern sharks living in the Cenozoic Era that spanned over 14 million years, beginning just 2 million years ago. The only (known) difference in the anatomy of Megalodon to the Great White is size. The Megalodon’s length is roughly estimated to be between 40 and 80 feet, so it could have been quadruple the size of a 20 foot Great White. Megalodon weighing about 48 tons would trump the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. As one site claims, Megalodon “Probably dined on whales”. (Fossil Facts and Finds) Although it is suspected that the Megalodon would have resembled the Great White Shark, sharks have no bones, only cartilage, so the only fossilized remains of Megalodon are it’s massive teeth.
San Diego’s Audit Committee thinks it would be a good idea to start taxing the city’s kittens. The “cat tax” was included as a part of a list of ten recommendations from the auditors to the city. The tax has been met with outrage so far, City Councilman Kevin Faulconer put in his two cents stating “Now is not the time for that,”. However, San Diego’s Auditors do think that it is the time for the financially challenged city to find extraneous tax revenue.
The “cat tax” is compared to the licensing procedure imposed on dog owners, dogs licenses assure that they have been vaccinated for rabies. Taxing cats would not affect the already feral cats. The tax would make it harder, and more expensive, for people to adopt orphan cats from shelters. The $25 “cat tax” could deter those willing to care for cats, and those who already are. It would cost the city more to euthanize their feral cats, which is what would happen if people don’t adopt, than to give them away. Councilman Carl DeMaio also chimed in on the “cat tax” issue saying:
“When you really peel back the logic, the only sense that this makes is from monetary sense. You’re [San Diego is] trying to get money.” He also noted that “The very population that presents the rabies risk isn’t going to be covered under this government tax.”
The Humane Society estimates that there are 373,000 cats in San Diego. If the “cat tax” was implemented, and at least 5 percent of the cat owners complied paying $25 a kitten, the city would make $536,000 in three fiscal years using the previous three years as the standard.
The auditing office is backing their “cat tax” recommendation from a public safety and public health standpoint. Auditors cite that between 2007-2008 the percentage of rabid cats increased 12.2 percent in the city, and they fear that this could increase more if something isn’t done, mainly if their “cat tax” isn’t implemented. Three out of the five auditors responsible for the list of recommendations were opposed to the “cat tax”, and many complaints are being made to question the true motives of the auditing office.
How do you feel about the “cat tax”: Would you pay the tax for your kitten?
And for the dog owners out there: How do you feel about the fact that you’re paying a tax which feline owners are currently exempt from?
proposed mosque design (left) Current building (right)
A building that previously housed a Burlington Coat Factory in downtown Manhattan, is the subject of recent controversy. Developers intend to build a mosque in its place, a proposal which has drawn significant criticism due to its proximity to Ground Zero. The Mosque that is planned for this site has since been re-categorized by organizers as a “community center with a prayer space”. Park51, the name of the project, has created a wave of debate. Sarah Palin stated it “stabbed hearts” for its location and has “spoils of war” implications for many Americans.
Park51, or Ground Zero Mosque, is located two blocks from where the twin towers once stood. So close, in fact, that the landing gear from one of the hijacked planes fell into an existing building on the site. The project was previously known as the Cordoba House, however the name was later changed to Park51. Abdul-Matin, a Muslim environmentalist, said, “The new name, Park51, invokes images of trees, creeks, and children playing. Parks are for the public. Parks are fun. Parks are green. And parks are not controversial.”
Park51’s cost is estimated to be roughly $100 million. It is planned to be a 13 story building constructed of glass and steel. Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf stated that he hopes the center will be “one of the most significant buildings in New York City.” The image the Muslim community is attempting to send, one of acceptance and environmentally friendliness, is not the image a lot of Americans are getting.
Developers of Park 51 designed the building to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. Park51 would be the first mosque ever to embrace these standards.
To receive LEED certification, developers must construct a building that achieves significant energy and water efficiency while minimizing CO2 emissions. LEED requirements also extend beyond the construction of the building. Those managing the property need to maintain a constant focus on conservation during the everyday use of the building. LEED officials monitor what materials are used in the building, its indoor environmental quality and its impact on the surrounding environment, to ensure the building continues to meet LEED standards.
Olympic centers built in Vancouver for British Columbia’s winter Olympics in 2009 met LEED requirements.
Park51 is intended to be a public facility with the hope that Muslims and non-Muslims will engage in inter-religious and lay dialogue. But questions linger and many people are wondering; is it too soon? Does Park51’s goal of going green change the way you look at the issue?
Hogweed, or Heracleum mantegazzianum, was named after the Greek God Hercules because of its massive size and stem strength. If you’re black and blue and haven’t been beaten, you may have unknowingly encountered the horrible Hogweed plant, which is now plaguing New York. This plant has some violent effects on humans such as bruising, scaring, blisters and blindness.
The Hogweed can grow up to fifteen feet in height, is adorned with flowers that look like Queen Anne’s Lace, and has massive broad leaves. The stem measures about 1-3 inches in diameter with light purple blotches, raised nodules, and is slightly hairy. A hogweeds sap is clear and watery.
It’s the sap that will get you, if a Hogweed’s sap happens to get on your skin you might want to get out of the sun A.S.A.P. Hogweed sap impairs the skins ability to deflect the suns radiation and so sun-burning happens instantaneously. While the initial effects of Hogweed (blisters and rashes) go away within 48 hours, depending on the dosage, the sap can create lasting scars and leave a victim with sun irritability for long after your encounter. If the sap gets into your eyes, permanent blindness could occur.
There are accounts of NY children playing with the Hogweed and holding up the hollow stem to their eyes as a makeshift telescope; parents make sure your kids know about what dangerous/ poisonous plants are indigenous to the area.
The weed has been found at 944 sites around New York. The plant, is deadly deceiving, it was brought to America from Eurasia in 1917 as an “ornamental garden plant”. I cannot imagine anyone who would now wish to have an extremely poisonous plant in their yards for decorative (maybe for defense) purposes. The Hogweed has also been used by beekeepers as a source of food for the bees; the extensive flowers are ideal for this.
Hercules’ plant may be beautiful and majestic, however, I would not want to get too close if I were you. Other states known to harbor the Hogweed are: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine
If you have found a Hogweed, or think you have, do not approach the weed but contact your local Environmental Protection Agency. If you live in New York you can call: 845-256-3111 The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will remove the Hogweed for you so that it will not return the following year.
If you are having a problem with weeds, perhaps not as big or as dangerous as the Hogweed and are concerned about your health and the environmental effect of extermination, then check out some eco-friendly weed killers at Greencupboards.com:
Mosquitoes suck, your blood. This week, June 26-July 2 was declared a National Mosquito Control Awareness Week by the Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission. The week is now coming to a close; do you feel more aware about mosquitoes now? If not, then never fear! Greencupboards Community is here to give you the 411 on Mosquitoes, because chances are you will have a run in with them during these summer months- which are often referred to as “Mosquito Season”. Here are three basic things any Mosquito savy person should know about:
Mosquito prevention
Mosquito-related diseases
Mosquito deterrents
Mosquito’s breed in water. If you own a pool and leave it stagnant through the winter, then spring chances are you have provided your mosquitoes with a nice, little incubator. Mosquitoes do not drink blood for food, but for breeding, a mosquito’s diet is mainly flower nectar and decaying organic matter. Male mosquitoes do not drink blood, only females do, and they do it in order to fertilize their eggs. So if you leave your pool un-drained you’re not only providing them with a place to nest you’re blood is also aiding in the breeding process too. If you have any bodies of water around your residence it is s good prevention measure to cover them in the winter, or drain them in the spring so that you’re not an un-intended helper to the mosquito manifesto.
The Life Cycle of a Mosquito:
An egg in a female mosquito is fertilized with the blood of a mammal.
The eggs are laid on the surface of a body of water, either singularly or in a group.
The larvae that hatch from the egg are often referred to as “wigglers”. “Wigglers” grow to be about 1-2 cm long and live in the water shedding their skin, which is called molt, an average of four times over a period lasting anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
After the larva, “wiggler”, stage the mosquito becomes a pupa. Pupas do not eat but move around in the water breathing air. The final stage of the pupa could be compared to the cocoon stage of a butterfly, inside of the pupa the larva is transformed into a mosquito.
Male mosquitoes emerge from the water to find plant nectar, and female mosquitoes seek blood so that they can fertilize their eggs and start the process all over again.
Malaria is the most common mosquito-related disease. Between 300-500 million people are infected with malaria every year. One million people die of malaria annually, and every day roughly 2,500 people die of the disease. The disease which we now know as Malaria has been documented as far back as 2,000 BC in ancient Chinese writings. Mosquitoes themselves have been around for over 30 million years. Four Nobel Prizes have been awarded in association with Malaria; this should denote how influential Malaria has been, and how desperately people have sought prevention against it. Four Malaria related Nobel Prize winners are:
Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize in 1902 for an experiment that concluded that Mosquitoes were responsible for transmitting Malaria.
Camillo Golgi won the Nobel Prize in 1906 for documenting the systematic-periodic fever associated with Malaria. He also noted that there were different kinds of Malaria effecting how frequently the fever would emerge.
Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran was the 1907 Nobel Prize Winner for the discovery of Malaria parasites in the bloodstream.
Othmer Zeidler was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1948 for synthesizing DDT, which after WWII, was found to be an effective defense against Mosquitoes.
For many developed country’s the threat of Malaria is not a huge deal, but less developed countries like Africa are still struggling to control the pest-bound-killer. Malaria is the biggest killer of children under five in Africa. Over seas U.S. Troops are also still at risk for Malaria contraction. Malaria it is the most influential infectious disease plaguing the troops. Mosquitoes are better fit for warmer climates, so as global temperatures increase it is suspected that the worldwide Malaria outbreaks could increase as well. Mosquitoes can also carry diseases other than Malaria, examples of these include:
Yellow Fever is much like Malaria having many of the same symptoms and can also be fatal.
Encephalitis is a virus that causes a range of symptoms like muscle contraction, disorientation, and a high fever.
Dengue Fever can trigger viral flues and hemorrhagic fevers.
Not all people bait mosquitoes equally. According to WebMD: “One in 10 people are highly attractive to mosquitoes,” A quote by Jerry Butler PhD. Genetics are mainly responsible for how susceptible people are to being mosquitoes meat. Scientist attribute 85% of human-mosquito attractiveness to genetics, this explains why out of a group of people one person seems to be complaining of the mosquitoes more than others (or perhaps this person is you) and has more bites to show for it. Jerry Butler goes on to say, “People with high concentrations of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface attract mosquitoes,” Mosquitoes can track their prey from between 50-100 meters away and are attracted by chemical, visual, and heat sensors. All of these sensors are located on the mosquito’s head. Only female mosquitoes have a proboscis, which is used for penetrating the skin, and sucking blood, the males biting apparatus is softer and thus incapable of penetrating the skin.
Now days it is very easy to find mosquito prevention products, here is a list of products Greencupboards offers to combat against the blood sucking mosquitoes:
What will you do when we make first contact with the extra terrestrials? Russian Scientist are preparing for our first encounter, which they estimate to be within the next 20 years. Alien encounters have been the subject of conspiracy and dramatic fiction throughout all of human history. Now, Andrei Finkelstien is marketing the worlds “first contact” as a scientific certainty. The question being formulated by many astrologists is not “if?” we will make contact, but “when?”. One thing is for certain; humans have always had a great interest in what lies beyond the blue skies.
When George Orwell read War of the Worlds on the radio in 1938 many listeners were unaware that what they were listening to was fiction. There was a resulting mass panic that swept the East coast, people believed they were under attack of Martians from Mars. For those of you who have not read Orwell’s book I have included the first paragraph of War of the Worlds, Book I The Coming of the Martians:
“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men upon Mars, perhaps inferior to themselves and ready to welcome a missionary enterprise. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. And early in the twentieth century came the great disillusionment.”
A depiction of George Orwells War of the Worlds Aliens, above.
Humans have always gazed up at the stars with curiosity, wonder, and fear. George Orwell was able to tap into a very peculiar human emotion, if emotion is even the right word to use for the feeling that “We are not alone.” And that “We are being watched.”
Science is beginning to support the claims of those who say that aliens exist.
“The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms… Life exist on other planets and we will find it within 20 years,” Said Finkelstein, who is the director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Applied Astronomy Institute. And Finkelstien is not envisioning contact with single celled un-intelligent life, but rather beings that resemble ourselves with two arms, two legs and a head, which would be of comparable intelligence to us. Finkelstein goes on to say that “They may have different color skin, but even we have that”.
Theories run off in every direction from the word “Alien”. Some people would argue that we have already made first contact and that the government is covering it up, others say that they have seen aliens themselves or even have been abducted by them. Still, others claim that human life is based off our ancient alien heritage.
If your interested in alien conspiracy then you need look no father than typing Area 51 into your Google search bar. Area 51 is a top secret military facility shrouded in mystery for its “alien leaks” a few former employees of the compound have come fourth in the past testifying to the alien nature of the compound, however, all of these claims have been dubbed conspiratorial. While I will not go into the conspiracies themselves for the simple fact that there are too many, I will give you the names (with links) to some of the well-known Area 51 whistle blowers:
