A Green Eyed View - green ideas and advice

Spring of Sustainability

I'm writing to let you know about a FREE online series of events that can inspire you to live a greener, healthier, more spacious life and transform any frustration you may feel about the state of our planet.

It’s called the Spring of Sustainability, and it features more than 100 pioneers of sustainability - Jane Goodall, Ed Begley Jr., Bill McKibben, Van Jones, Vandana Shiva, John Robbins, Hazel Henderson, to name a few - who will share the most cutting-edge insights and tools for creating a sustainable and thriving world.

Learn more at this link: http://springofsustainability.com

This 3-month series of virtual and live events starts on March 26th. Each weekday, you'll have the chance to listen in and learn from an inspiring sustainability leader via your phone line or computer, or access the replays at a time more convenient for you. There's still time to become a part of the Spring of Sustainability.

 

Feed Your Lawn and Garden with Nitrogen FREE and Phosphorous FREE Peggy Green’s Garden and Lawn Minerals

From June 1 through September 30th, Nitrogen FREE and Phosphorus FREE safe fertilizer ordinances go into effect throughout the state Florida as well as many other areas throughout the country.

Peggy Green’s Garden Minerals, Flower Minerals and their Nitrogen FREE and Phosphorus FREE Grass Minerals for ALL lawn types, palms and shrubs, meets or exceeds all summer safe fertilizer ordinances. Peggy Green was one of the first, and remains one of the few earth friendly manufacturers that is approved for ALL YEAR ‘ROUND USE. All of their products are not only good for the earth, but are completely safe for children and pets.

Every year, more people are discovering the harmful effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus fertilizers. Research continues to show that Nitrogen fertilizers leach off cancer causing Nitrates, and Phosphorus fertilizers leach off lead, arsenic, radioactive particles, radon and fluoride. All of these harmful materials are not only hazardous to our ecosystem, but are causing serious health implications, and YOUR HEALTH IS AT RISK. It is not just the summer months you should worry about. Use a safe, sustainable fertilization program ALL YEAR LONG.

YES Program for Sustainability Leadership Comes to the US for the first time

Applications are now being accepted for the Youth Encounter on Sustainability’s first ever program in the United States. Apply today to take the lead in creating a sustainable future!

This August, a group of university students and young professionals from across the globe will address issues of sustainable development as part of the Youth Encounter on Sustainability (YES) program. The YES program offers each of its participants a once-in-a-lifetime experience to connect with like-minded individuals, delve into the complex challenges facing our planet today, and build up the skills and knowledge necessary to develop solutions.

Located at Sterling College in beautiful Craftsbury, Vermont, the YES program will engage participants in issues of sustainability through course lectures, field trips, workshops, discussions, and group work. Headed by an international YES faculty and national, regional, and local sustainability leaders, the course will cover topics such as Earth systems, energy, economics, and environmental policy. It will draw on Vermont’s long history of small farms with a special focus on sustainable food production and community resources. In addition, the course will allow participants to engage with Vermont’s people and landscape through a range of social, cultural, creative, and outdoor activities.

The YES Vermont course builds on eleven years of successful YES programs in ten different countries. In that time, over 1,300 students from 98 countries have been trained for sustainability leadership through YES. They now make up a strong and active network of YES alumni—a network which new participants will be able to access and engage with.

This summer’s YES program runs from August 15-September 1. It is jointly sponsored by ACTIS, the Donella Meadows Institute, and the Alliance for Global Sustainability.

For application materials or more information about this inspiring opportunity, please visit www.actis-education.ch or http://www.donellameadows.org/about/our-work/yes-youth-encounter-for-sustainability/.

Applications are due May 14, 2012.

Is Your Shirt Making You Sick?

An important message from Public Citizen:

Is your shirt making you sick?

What about your sofa or your spatula? Are the toys your children or grandchildren play with safe?

Since our founding over four decades ago, Public Citizen has served as a leading watchdog for consumer safety.

With our latest campaign, we’re partnering with the League of Conservation Voters to strengthen laws that keep toxic chemicals out of our bodies, out of everyday products we all use, and out of our homes, communities, classrooms and workplaces.

Join Public Citizen and the League of Conservation Voters in calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the Safe Chemicals Act.

There are 85,000 different chemicals on the market. The Environmental Protection Agency tests only a few hundred of them.

Asthma, diabetes, childhood cancers, infertility and learning disorders are more and more prevalent. The federal system meant to protect us from harmful chemicals hasn’t changed in 35 years.

Why?

The chemical industry cares more about its profits than your family’s wellbeing.

For decades, the industry has fought improved chemical safety laws. In 2011 alone, it spent $52 million lobbying Congress to block meaningful reform.

Help Public Citizen and the League of Conservation Voters petition the Senate to put health and safety before corporate profits.

Here are some of the Safe Chemicals Act’s key provisions: requiring regulators to identify and restrict the most dangerous chemicals; upgrading scientific methods for evaluating chemicals; and mandating basic health and safety information for all chemicals that enter or remain on the market.

Protect yourself and your loved ones from toxic chemicals.

Sign the Safe Chemicals Act petition today.