Environmentalism

The North American International Auto Show in Detroit displays their latest creations featuring environmentally friendlier sports cars.

• The Corvette ZR-1, which is built entirely of lightweight material, aluminum, magnesium, and carbon fiber. It has one of the best fuel economies in its class.

• The Cadillac CTS V, which has 550 horsepower and 550 pound feet of torque.

Earth Vision explores environmental issues every season and offers their interesting articles and reports for free.

Baby food is easy to make and store. When it's homemade and organic it's better for them and still costs less.

• Sweet potatoes almost always go over well and all you need to do is fire them in the oven and scoop out the inside once baked. Instant baby food!

• Bananas are also super easy to mash up and you could do it without a food mill.

• Avocados are nutritious, mild, yummy and one of the earlier foods you can offer a baby.

• Apples are an old favorite and when you make applesauce yourself you know it's fresh and does not have preservatives or added sugar.

• Carrots are easy to blend after cooking although they usually require a little water so they're not a thick paste.

Dudley George died 12 years ago in the Ipperwash land dispute. The province of Ontario gave the provincial park back to First Nations.

EIA investigated Chinese manufacturers that supply Wal-Mart with wood and found much of it was obtained through illegal logging.

• China provides up to 84% of Wal-Mart's wood furniture. Unfortunately many of their sources are allegedly obtained through illegal logging according to the report and Russian law. China obtains much of their wood from the Russian far east which is where endangered tigers breed. If the tigers don't get killed from damage to the forests, they're poached for body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine.

• Destroying protected forests affects people, plants and animals. People are killing each other over the timber and it's often used to pay for war.

• It does sound as though Wal-Mart should have asked more questions on where the wood originated from. It appears that the price was more important than how it was obtained.I think that Wal-Mart will be much more careful in their future dealings with suppliers and manufacturers and hopefully do away with "no questions asked" policies.

Megabus is offering 100,000 chances to receive a free trip. Bus travel helps reduce carbon emissions and they want to raise awareness.

• Megabus is a Chicago based company that offers service to 12 other Midwest cities. (Ann Arbor, Bloomington-Normal, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Toledo.) They also run in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Millbrae, Oakland, Sand Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and San Ysidro.

• If you want a free seat, log on to www.megabus.com, select your destination and departure date. Don’t forget the promotion code which is WIN2008. Even if there are no spots left, you’ll receive a discount.

Miners who risked their lives together formed a choir. They sing stories of the dangers, joys, struggles, health risks and memories in the mines.

• Many of the men had enormous adjustments because they had to move to obtain work after the mines closed. Some of them also had to learn a new skill at a later age. One 42 year old man got hired on as a call center representative. He's amused at the younger ones who talk as though they're smarter than him because of their computer skills.

Get some eco-friendly recipes, green gift ideas and create some new Christmas traditions with handmade gifts and environmentally friendly purchases.

• Celebrate the holidays by saving energy, creating homemade gifts and recycling old items to create new memories with Green Christmas Ideas.

• Are you looking for eco-friendly menu ideas? Here's a guide to finding locally grown foods and vegetarian and/or vegan recipes for the holidays. Eco-Friendly Holiday Meals

• Get some green christmas ideas on how to celebrate and reduce, reuse and recycle at the same time. Give Environmentally Friendly Gifts for the Holidays and Go Green this Christmas.

Green and Save have organized an online resource of money saving green home improvement supplies and ideas.

• “We have done so much research over the past three years that we wanted to share it. Since the initial un-edited web search results were overwhelming and contradictory, we dug deep, made the calls, and met directly with manufacturers, suppliers, installers, engineers, and other architects to determine exactly what to buy and where to buy it. Our recommendations come from what we chose for our own home. Out of budget concerns, we calculated and then ranked the return on energy and other savings, so this site has the first Return On Investment (ROI) calculation rankings for Green Home Improvement. Now, hopefully you can review and also Take Action to save money and the environment.” – Charlie Szoradi

Organizations that are building sustainable homes not only help the environment but create jobs.

• An organization that promotes green building is Apollo Alliance along with Urban Habitat. Van Jones who is the President of Ella Baker Center for Human Rights as well as a member of Apollo Alliance shares their vision. “We dream of a multi-ethnic, grassroots movement transforming urban America by creating jobs, reducing violence and honoring the Earth.” They help create green jobs and promote their plans and strategies to help others who are interested in sustainable housing.

• Brad Pitt assembled a team to build sustainable homes after Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans. The Lower 9th Ward was hit particularly hard. The project is called “Make it Right” and I was pleased to see someone trying to make it right.